Missing You For Eternity
by GetaCrazed
Summary: Life was only the beginning. Death marks the start of the real journey. Two bonded mates will do anything to get back to one another.
1. Prologue Part One

*Tearjerker ahead. [At least for me]*

I'll Miss You for Eternity the Legacy:

Chapter One of the Prologue:

                "Bulma Briefs was an extraordinary woman. She was strong willed, and brilliant. Of the many people who knew her, they knew that she never gave up. No matter what the circumstance was. She ran the largest and most successful business in the world, and her death has devastated many lives throughout the globe. She was a beautiful woman, not only on the outside but in the inside as well. Her heart was full and rich, and it was her guide in life. Bulma Briefs was a loving Mother, a devoted wife, a daughter who has made her parents proud, and a friend that nobody will ever forget. She will live on in our hearts, and will never cease to exist as long as we believe in her. She's up there, looking down on us, and she will always be with us no matter what. Now is the time that family and friends can come up and say a few words. Afterwards, we may pay our respects." 
    
    _"Namida ga ato kara afuredashite                                   _[As my tears keep overflowing one after another,

_saigo no egao ga nijinde mienai no_                                  I can't see your last smile through their blur__

_ikanaide   ikanaide  koko ni ite_                                    Please don't go, please don't go... Stay here.__

_sora e   hikari kakenukete-yuku"_                                                  Light bursts through the sky.]                                                                       

                                                                                 __

                The loud, echoing voice silenced, leaving the church still. The only noise inside the building was quiet sobs and silent tears. Goku looked around, watching the people sitting and crying. He stood up quietly and walked up to the podium where the priest stepped down, and nodded to him. Goku nodded silently back, and stepped onto the platform. He looked down and realized that he had forgotten his speech at home. He sighed, not knowing why he had even bothered to write one, if he knew he wouldn't have even used it. He took a deep breath and turned his head around, looking at the russet colored coffin. He faced the crowd again and looked at them with tears in his eyes. He looked down and then back up, determined not to shed tears just yet. In the first row of pews sat only Bulma's family. Dr. Briefs was patting his sobbing wife's back, tears sliding down his cheeks also, but he seemed not to notice. Next to his grandmother sat Trunks, who was staring directly at Goku. Goku tried to smile a small smile, but Trunks looked away, tears forming again. Goku sighed again and looked at his old friend. Vegeta sat next to his son, although he didn't comfort him or any of the others around him. He wasn't looking at Goku, he was looking past him, and Goku knew what he was staring at. He was startled to see the dead look in the center of Vegeta's eyes, and he shivered. He hated this. Why had Bulma had to die? It wasn't fair! Everything had been peaceful, and happy, and now this…this loss.

                The priest cleared his throat and nodded to Goku again, and he realized that the man wanted him to start or step down. Goku almost sent the man a half-hearted glare, but he was too drained off energy to do it. 
    
    _"Konna ni chiisa na watashi dakedo                                 _[Even this insignificant me

_anata wo dare yori sei ippai aishita_                                  loved you more than anyone, with all my soul.

_arigatou   ikutsumo no_                                                 Thank you for all of

_taisetsu na kimochi_                                                    the precious feelings

_tewata shite kureta yo ne"_                                             you've given to me.]                                                                  __

                "Bulma…" He started, and cleared his throat, not knowing how he was going to be able to do this without cracking. "Bulma was my friend, as well as your friend also. We have all loved her very much, and we still do. I believe that nothing with ever destroy the love that we will always have for her. When she was alive she made things better whenever times were rough and hard. Her parties…remember her parties' guys? How we would get drunk and sing so bad that it would make the windows actually crack? Or how she would drag us onto the dance floor and make us dance until we collapsed?  How we would sit around and talk about embarrassing moments or play truth and dare and other senseless games? But now…they don't seem so senseless anymore. Bulma…Bulma made parts of our lives bearable. When we thought that nothing would be right ever again she was there screaming at us, and telling us to stop thinking negatively.

                 "I met her when I was twelve…she was sixteen. I didn't even know what a girl was back then. All I was a little boy living in the woods…until Bulma came. Did I ever tell you guys that when we first saw each other, it was because I ran in front of her car and she almost ran me over? And then she screamed at me when I tried to attack her car, thinking it was a monster. And then the search for the Dragon Balls began. God…I don't ever think that I will ever forget those days, weeks, months that we spent together. I can't even count how many life-long friends we met on the way. Chi-Chi, Krillen, Yamcha, Piccolo, Paur, Tien, Chatzou, Master Roshi, Oolong, Launch, and so many more…If you think about it…I most likely would never have met any of you if it weren't for her. If she hadn't almost ran me over with her car. I don't know how my life would have been if it weren't for her. It's only been a few days since she died and I already feel dead inside. She had such an impact on all of our lives. On Namek…Frieza…Cell…Buu…and so many other villains that we had to destroy…she helped with each one of them. Without her we would have been dead by the time we got to Namek. Can you guys even imagine how it would have been if we had all died on Namek? Frieza would have come, destroyed us and this Planet…we wouldn't exist without her. Bulma…she has saved this world so many times. And not just from the bastards who come to destroy the Planet, but also her company. All the money she made…she would donate more than half to shelters, and the homeless, and institutions, and other countless places that needed help. She has saved the hungry, the homeless, the poor, and any other person that needed her help. She has made life in this world so advanced with her capsules, and other productions…it's hard to believe what out world would be like and look like without her. 

                "These thoughts have never crossed my mind before…not like this they haven't. Isn't it funny that you realize how much a person has done for you, but only when they are gone for good? Isn't it sad that we can't appreciate something or someone until its gone? I want to thank you Bulma, because I know you can hear me from up there. Thank you for everything that you have done for us. Thank you for cheering us up when we needed it. Thanks for knocking sense into our heads whenever we needed a smart idea. Thank you for caring. And yes, even thank you for when you yelled and screamed and threw temper tantrums at us. Everything you did affected us all in some way. But most of all I want to thank you for…for loving us and your World. Thank you for being my first friend and everyone else's friend. Thank you for being Trunk's Mother, thank you for being such a devoted wife and mate to Vegeta. Thank you for just loving. I don't know what we would have done without you. We will miss you Bulma Briefs. When you died, a large part of us died too. You were like our rock Bulma. Someone we could hold onto when we needed someone. You were that someone Bulma. We all love you Bulma, don't ever forget it, because I know we won't." 
    
    _"Sono toki zutto, watashi wa                                          _[When you took off, I was [
    
    _kie kaketa hikoukigumo wo mite-ita..."_                             watching for a long time as the vapor trail disappeared."]                                                                __

                By the time that Goku had finished, he had tears streaming down his face, but he made no move to wipe them away. He needed to cry. He hadn't cried since he was a little boy…when he lived with his Grandfather Gohan. Friends had died before, but he always knew that they would be wished back. But Bulma couldn't be wished back. She had died from a natural cause, and the Dragon could not undo that. People died…you couldn't change that. 

                He turned around and knelt down in front of the coffin, and stared down at his best friend. He said a small prayer, and kissed her on the forehead. "Aisheteru sister…" he whispered gently, and stood up, walking back to the row of seats. He stole a glance at Vegeta. He wondered if he had even heard him give his speech. He was still staring at the coffin, which was decorated with bright flowers, and other ornaments. The top was open, leaving her upper body in view so people could say goodbye. Surrounding the death bed were pictures. So many pictures…Pictures of her bright beautiful face smiling directly into the camera.  There were pictures of her wedding day, her birthdays, Trunk's birthdays, parties, and group photos of the whole gang. Goku smiled sadly. They all looked so happy in the pictures. A complete contrast to how they all felt now. 

                There was rustling in the crowd as Krillen stood up, and made his way up to the platform. He straightened his tux, and as he walked past Goku he smiled gravely. Goku smiled back, but his smile faltered and he had to look away. He put his arm around Chi-Chi who was sobbing quietly. Goten sat in between his Mother and Videl who was holding Gohan's hand tightly. Gohan had a blank face on, and was trying to not cry. Goten was sad, although the true meaning of this had not penetrated his small mind yet. He knew that Bulma had died, but they could just wish her back with the DragonBalls. Right? Why was everyone so sad?
    
    _"Wasurenaide                                                               _[Please don't forget

_hitori ja nai_                                                                  You're not alone.

_hanarete mo te wo tsunaide-iru"_                                     Even if we're apart, we can still carry on hand-in-hand.]__

                                                                                                      __

                    Krillen blinked away the blur of tears, and placed a flower on the floor next to the coffin. He turned around and spoke softly. __

"When I first met Bulma I thought she was a spoiled little brat. She and I did not get along right away. I think we were both competing for Goku friendship. She was his best friend, even if she didn't admit it, and the way that she screamed at us you could never tell. But when we got to Namek that was when our friendship really grew I think. She helped us in so many ways and I know that I will never forget it. I don't really know what to say, I think that Goku said it all…we all loved Bulma and I don't know what we would have done without her." He stepped down and walked into the isle, taking the seat next to his wife and daughter. 

                It continued like this for another half hour, people walking up, praying, and making a speech. All the crying, the sad smiles, the quiet nods, and the silent thoughts. Bulma's parents went after Krillen, but stepped down early because Mrs. Briefs could stand no longer. Gohan went up, Yamcha, Chi-Chi, even Piccolo. Soon it was time to pay their respects and then leave. Everyone stood up, and walked over to the coffin, some chatting away quietly, others were crying and others comforting. More and more flowers were placed on top and around the coffin. Two people stayed seated and did not move. Trunks sat next to his Father, staring at all the people talking and crying. He was in a state of shock, and no one seemed to be able to snap him out of it. He was tempted to bring his knees up to his chest and cry, but he refused to move. 

                Vegeta was no better. He seemed not to notice all the people surrounding his dead mate. He kept staring past and through them at the brown box that held his mate. He was wearing his black spandex and gold armor. He had refused to put on a tuxedo or even a dress shirt. The mate of a Prince deserved better.

                 He felt dead. Inside his heart felt like it was breaking in half and he had a splitting headache. He knew it was from the breaking of the bond that they had had. He didn't have much longer…it took all his strength to keep from grabbing his head in pain and screaming. _It hurts so much…He would not move. He would show no emotion. Not yet…not with everyone here…__God…it hurts…woman...Bulma…make the pain stop…please…_

                "Vegeta? Are you ready to go? You can stay at our house if you want to…" Vegeta didn't flinch or move his eyes away from the alter when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Goku looked at him sadly, and turned around shrugging to Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi sighed and stepped up to Vegeta.           

                "Vegeta? Come on…you can't just stay here. Come to our house, we can make you dinner…Are you hungry? Come on; let's go…you can't stay here."  She placed her hand on his shoulder, and bent down to eye level. She was talking to him in almost a whisper, too afraid to do anything else. She knew that he was not stable. Even though he was trying to hide it, she could tell that his hearts was aching for his dead mate. Anything that you said to him could set him off. She wasn't exactly pleased about him spending the night at their house, but she knew that it was the only place that Goku could keep an eye on him. 

                For the first time in over two hours Vegeta spoke. "Take Trunks…I'll get him tomorrow…" Chi-Chi looked at her family, not knowing what to do. Goku bent down and helped her up. 

                "Leave him alone…just let him stay here. He needs to be alone…" He turned to Trunks who had gotten up when his Father told him to go to the Sons house. He was wiping away his tears, and staring at his Mother. "Trunks…why don't you go…and say goodbye now." He hated to say what he had to say next. "It's…your last chance." 
    
    _"Hajimete no koi  hajimete shitta                                  _[With my first love, I first realized
    
    _konna kanashimi ga aru koto"_                                      that there could be such sorrow.]                                    

                Trunks nodded, and walked up to the coffin. Goten went to go and comfort him but Chi-Chi stopped him, knowing that the small boy had to be alone with his Mother for the last few moments he would ever see her. Vegeta swallowed hard when his son's heart wrenching sobs echoed throughout the church. He turned away from the disturbing sight and looked out of the stained glass windows. The sun was setting, casting shadows in the room, and causing the flowers to turn different colors in the light. The church was silent, except for the boy's cries of anguish. Everyone had left awhile ago, and now it was just the Sons, Videl, Vegeta, and Trunks. Vegeta didn't know how much time had passed before his son bent over, kissed his Mother, got up and walked out the door, tears falling away from his cheeks as he did so. The others got up, and followed him, leaving Vegeta alone, in peace…finally.

                Vegeta sat there for the longest time, too scared to move. He knew that if he moved he might break down. He couldn't do that…not yet. He had things to do before he did. It took all of the courage that he could ever have to get up, and slowly walked to the alter. He stopped when he reached the coffin and looked into it. He stopped a gasp from escaping from his throat. He turned away, gathered his wits and knelt before his mate. He felt his eyes moisten and he closed his eyes, forcing the tears away. He couldn't cry! Not now! He opened his eyes and looked at his mate. _Kami…why does she have to be so beautiful even when she is dead?_ He reached his hand out and rested it on her cheek and despite his efforts a single tears fell. He wiped away his fallen tear from her soft cheek, and shook his head, trying to make the pain go away. He wrapped his arms around her frail body and gently lifted her out of her confinement, holding her close to his body. He stood up, and stared out of the windows…the sun was almost setting. He turned around and walked out a door in the back of the church, and did not notice someone move out of the shadows to follow him…

                Vegeta grabbed his head in mid flight, holding onto his precious cargo with his other arm. He kept moving, however hard it was towards the setting sun. He looked down at the female in his arms, and smiled desolately. He sped up and finally reached a small knoll. He gently placed his wife on the ground and sat next to her. He stared at her a moment, before loosing the battle of wills. He gathered her up in his arms again, and he buried his head in her neck and sighed sadly. He didn't know how long he sat there before he spoke, his voice cracking. 

                "Woman…Bulma…please…" He let out a deep breath which he didn't know that he had been holding. "Please…don't leave me here…please…come back…" he gasped and smoothed her bangs back, looking into her face and kissing her on the forehead. "Please…? Don't go. Don't leave me alone…I need you…Trunks needs you…are you just going to leave our son? Please…don't leave, don't leave, don't leave me."

                He leaned against a tree, pulling her body on top of his and he cried. The mighty Saiyan-jin Prince, destroyer of so many lives and worlds, allowed himself to cry. For his mate. For his dead mate, he would cry for her…

                He choked, finding breathing hard to do now. Every gasp of breath he took in sent a piercing ache in his chest from the bond being destroyed. He never knew that you could be in so much excruciating pain at one time. It was insufferable. He groaned and fell forward on top of his dead wife. It took all the strength he had to roll over to his side, so as not to crush her. He was breathing heavily, and shorter and shorter gasps came. _I won't die without telling her …even if she can't hear me…_ "Bulma…please…God…don't leave me. I need you. I need you so much. Please come back and make the pain go away. Come back home with me. What about Trunks? How do you think he will react when he finds out that both of his parents have died in the last three days?" Vegeta whispered everything that he could think of into his mate's ear. Anything that would make her come back to him, and not leave him and their son alone on this planet.

_"Nanika ga shoumetsu shite mo nanika ga_                        [Even if something lapses away, something will

_futatabi yadotte_                                                            live once again.
    
    _wakare ni kureta hohoemi wa tsuyoku ikiyou to yuu_          When you gave me a smile as we parted, it was__

_anata kara no_                                                              your message for me
    
    _MESE-JI"                                                                     _to truly live with all my heart.]__

                "Please Bulma…don't leave me on this strange world. I know nothing here except you. You're the only one I truly understand…don't take that away from me. I can't live here alone…" Vegeta didn't know why he was still trying to talk to his dead queen. Maybe it was just to keep the hurt at bay. Whenever he stopped talking, the throbbing grew ten-fold. He knew that the inevitable was coming. He didn't care if he died. He had wanted to die ever since he was five years old. Ever since his Father shipped him off to Frieza. Ever since Frieza made his life a living hell. But this was different…he knew he would die…but he also knew that he would never see his beautiful mate ever again. These were his last moments with her and he was not about to waste them. "We'll be separated you know." He whispered hoarsely though his tears. "They won't let us be together. You'll go to Heaven, where you belong. A-and I-I'll go to Hell…where I b-belong. I was sentenced there from the second I was born…God woman…I don't want to go back to Hell. I can still remember…all the death and horror from the last time I was there. And I was only there for ten minutes…right after I died on Namek." He took a shuddering breath.
    
    _"Itsuka kitto aeru                                                          _[I just know that we'll see each other someday.
    
    _futari naraba_                                                                If we're together,
    
    _tookute mo   hitomi   mitsumeau                                    _even if we're far apart, we can gaze in each others' eyes
    
    _kibou to yume no   subete wo kakete"_                             Let's bet everything on all our hopes and dreams.]__
    
                                                                                                                                                  __
    
            "Do you remember the time that you shrieked at me, saying how I should have just stayed dead and that I should have rotted in Hell? You thought I didn't need anyone…that I was h-happy to be alone." He let more tears escape and he squeezed his eyes shut. He buried his head in her neck and kissed the fading scar that he had left there all those years ago. He cried out even more when he saw it was almost invisible…the true sign that their joining had come to an end. "You were wrong. I do need someone. I need you. Don't you dare leave me…I want to stay here with you, on this planet with our son…I don't want to go home…I don't want to see my parents, or my people, or my kingdom. I just want you…"  He brushed her damp bangs from her forehead and kissed it, letting his mouth fall onto hers. He kissed her and then pulled away realizing that she wouldn't be able to respond. He brought his hand down to her abdomen and let out a choked moan, and bent down, kissing it softy. _I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… A sudden tremor in his head caused him to grab his skull and scream in pain. ___

                 He stood up shakily and leaned against the tree with one hand. He screamed again and fell to his knees. Gripping the tree he tried to pull himself up off the ground. A sudden pain in his heart made him lose his hold and he grabbed his chest, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to block out the pain. _Not yet…not yet…I haven't told her yet…_He crawled over to where he had left his mate and collapsed on top of her, too weak to move himself. He looked into her face and kissed her one last time on the mouth, before his head dropped into the crook of her shoulder. He gasped in pain and whispered the three words that he had never told her. "I love you…"
    
    _"Yakusoku wo shiyou yo                                                _[Let's promise each other
    
    _ano hi no hageshisa wo_                                                 that we'll hold on to the intensity we felt
    
    _daite_                                                                           that day,
    
    _ashita saku mirai wo_                                                     and live the future that blooms
    
    _ikiru"_                                                                          in tomorrow.]
    
                                                                                                          __

                He fell onto her fully and breathed in one last shuddering breath. "Forever…" His body went limp as the Saiyan-jin no Ouji finally returned home. Yet it was the first time in his life that he wished he wasn't leaving…

END of Chapter One of the Prologue

Was it sad? ::sniff:: I thought it was sad, but that's just me. I'm not good at writing sad, sappy stuff. Argh! Oh well…

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own DragonBall Z or the characters used in this story. Neither do I own the song I used called "Yubiwa" from Escaflowne. Thank you.

One more chapter for the Prologue. ^_^;; I can never seem to write small prologues. They always are dragged out. [Shakes head at own stupidity]

~. ~ Vegeta's Mate


	2. Prologue Part Two

I'll Miss You For Eternity The Legacy:

Chapter Two of the Prologue:

            A figure that had been hidden in the shadows of the setting sun, stepped lightly against the soft grass underneath her feet. Her mouth was opened in shock, an emotion that she very rarely showed. When Goku had told her to follow the man, she had not been expecting to see and hear everything that she had witnessed. She wished that she had never come. She knew that she shouldn't have seen the last moments shared with the two bonded mates. It should have been sacred, an experience only for the two of them, not to be shared with any one else. Have you ever gotten a deep feeling of regret and guilt? Where it seemed to be stuck inside your throat and then slowly traveled down your esophagus and into the pit of your stomach? It's a heavy burden that makes the host just want to crawl into a hole and die. To get down on you hands and knees and creep forward until you can move no longer and then just collapse were you are, and give up? Have you ever felt guilt that strong? Few people can feel such emotion, and only some ever recover from it. For the rest of your existence you know that you have heard something that was not meant for your sensitive ears to heed and you have witnessed something that was not meant for your fragile eyes to see. A moment so precious it should never be spoken about and you had to walk into it and damage it. You feel like your senses have betrayed you, making you think and see things that you did not want to know. The guilt will forever play with your head…your conscious…until you can take it no longer, and you have to come clean. But in some people, they smother the feeling…the emotion…until the day that they keel over and die. 

            Juuhachigou stood above the two bodies and looked upon then with sad eyes. Well, as sad as an android could have possibly appeared. Sadly she shook her head and she reached down but stopped, her hand inches from the black spandex on Vegeta's back. She clenched her hand into a fist and gritted her teeth. She might not have liked Vegeta particularly, but she felt that she owed him in some way. She should have never followed him here. She should have refused Goku's wishes to watch him and make sure that he didn't do anything that he wouldn't do if he was sane. If only…if only she had known that this would have happened, she would have never come. Deep down in her cold heart, which had been warmed over the years, she knew that Vegeta was not going to make it. She had known ever since the news of Bulma's death. She remembered something that Bulma had told all of them once at a party at Bulma's house. She had been sitting next to Krillen; lightly bouncing her daughter Marron on her knee…everyone was there, except Vegeta of course. Everyone had stared at Bulma as she had closed her eyes and seemed to just sit there, but her face changed from calm to angry in moments. She opened her eyes and growled, saying to just get on with the party, Vegeta would not be attending it. Everyone asked her how she had known that and why she seemed to be concentrating so hard. That was when she had told them about the bond.  The bond between a Saiyan-jin and their mate that connected them for all time. It was so strong in some couples that they were able to communicate telepathically. They had all been amazed to hear about how if one of the bonded mates were to die, then the other would either die immediately or start to slowly die. It could take minutes, days, months, or years. It all depended on how strong the bond was, and how strong the counter part was. 

            During the funeral Juuhachigou had kept a close on Vegeta, watching his facial expressions. Most of the time he had a blank face, and he just stared at the coffin which held his mate, but once in awhile she noticed that one of the muscles in his face would twitch and he would wince. She knew that it must have been from the bond breaking between the two lovers. Never to be brought back to life again. The Z Fighters and Bulma's family had been shocked to find out that Bulma had the deadly disease of cancer. Everyone had assumed her in good physical shape. By the way that she worked out, and her nightly activities with her mate, you would think that she had been one of the healthiest women in the world. Then they found out that it was a tumor in her liver, and it did not matter how much you worked out or had sex or did anything else to be healthy like eating good food. Bulma had been heart broken when she found out, and to make it worse, the doctors told her that she only had about five months to live. What was even sadder…and made tears prick at Juuhachi-gou eyes was the fact that…Bulma had also been pregnant with her and Vegeta's second child. Two months before they had found out that she had cancer, they were informed that it was going to be a little girl. Juuhachigou remembered the pride and happiness that shined from Bulma's eyes, and she had noticed that Vegeta had become even more protective of her than he had already been. She could also tell…even though he tried desperately to hide it…that he was truly delighted that he was going to have a little girl. Maybe it was the fact that he was going to be called _Daddy and not _Dad _or __Father._

She had not missed the sight of Vegeta kissing his mate's abdomen right before he had grabbed his head in agonizing pain. Her acute hearing had also not missed the words that he had moaned painfully. _Did he blame himself for the death of his mate and his child? If he did…then…_why?_ It was not his fault that the cancer affected her and killed her silently…_

            Although Juuhachigou was an android, she knew how a human's mind worked. She knew the feeling of deep love. After all, she had once been a human herself, along with her twin brother. She loved Krillen, even if she hasn't been one to show emotion so openly. But people knew that she and Krillen loved each other, and they were happy together with their daughter. Vegeta and Bulma had been another story. The others knew that Bulma loved Vegeta. The question that had plagued their minds constantly was whether or not Vegeta loved her back, or even cared for her. It was so baffling to come over and hear them screaming at each other; fighting until one gave up. It usually ended in slammed doors, or loud curses, and the guests would just stand around helplessly, not knowing what to do. So where was the everlasting love that Bulma said existed between them? Was it even there? Or had Bulma just fantasized that they were happy together, when they really weren't? Did Vegeta _really love his wife? Had his proposal to her, just been a way to secure himself in the family, so that he could stay and train his son to be a warrior like himself? Or…did the all-mighty Saiyan-jin Prince, truly love her? It was a question that nobody but he knew the answer too. Until tonight. She had heard it with her own ears. Was it the first time that he had ever uttered those words? Or did he whisper them to her once in a blue moon while they were snuggled together in bed in the aftermath of their love making? Or had he spoken the sacred words to her every night before they left the conscious world and entered the world of dreams and memories? She did not know why she pondered over these thoughts for so long. It was none of her business. Why did she even care? __He can_ love…it is possible for the cold hearted, little arrogant bastard to actually _love__ someone. She mused over her thoughts for awhile longer, dwelling on the realization of what she had heard. __He can love…he can love…he can __love! And he does! His son, his mate, and the daughter that he will never have…_

            Small tears rolled down her cheeks. She wasn't crying for Vegeta…but instead for the child that would never be born, never enter this life, never see the light of day, and never be able to experience the joy of being alive. Juuhachigou could not remember the last time that she had cried. It must have been before she was turned into an android by that horrid Dr. Gero. When she had been in school, and was just a regular girl…that must have been the last time that she had ever felt the salty liquid slide down her cheeks. It felt so foreign to her now…not having felt it in so many years. She had forgotten how to cry almost…Forgotten how if feels to let go for a second…just a split second, and let everything that you have been holding inside of you go. She lifted her hand up to her cheek, and felt her damp cheeks, where the tears were starting to evaporate off her pore less skin. Removing her hand she stared down at it, and was amazed to see her own salty tears. Juuhachigou shook her head in anger. She would not cry over something like this…yes, she would admit that she was deeply saddened by the deaths of three innocent people, but not enough to shed tears. She realized what she had told herself a moment later. _Innocent…_

Vegeta was not innocent…not in any way was he innocent. She thought about what he had whispered to Bulma in his last dying moments. _A-and I-I'll go to Hell…where I b-belong. I was sentenced there from the second I was born. Juuhachigou reflected over the fact for a second before coming to the conclusion that Vegeta had indeed been condemned to Hell, even before he had a chance to prove himself. It was like his life had been planned out for him already, before he had even been given birth to! The more that she thought about it, the angrier that she got…it wasn't fair! Not that she really liked Vegeta but…had it really been just to him at all? Because he was the prince, he had to act like one? He was supposed to behave and do everything that a member of the royal family did, including killing. Murdering, massacring, butchering, slaughtering, slaying, destroying, decimating, annihilating, demolishing…he caused terror and fear in hundreds of thousands of innocents…And even though his future had been laid out for him by some unspeakable power above, he could have  refused to comply…to retaliate. Juuhachigou believed that you had control over you _own_ destiny. Nobody could tell you what to do, what to say, how to act, how to think…you do it all on your own, no matter how strong of a force is trying to stop you. You are the one in control of your life. Your life is in your hands and you are the one to choose what to do with it. _

            Now, Juuhachigou could be totally wrong, but who am I, as the author of this epic love story to say that she is not? I merely write. Nobody can truly tell if fate exists…do you believe in providence? Do you believe that your life it planned out my some God of supreme authority and power? Do you trust that no matter what you say and do is controlled by someone other than yourself? Even if you don't believe in it, and you try to control your own life…your own destiny… what you are doing could be just another way of fate controlling you. Fate can manipulate your mind, making you think that you are changing the course of your future, but in reality it's just another sick twisting way that it plays with your mentality. Your life could be handed to you on a silver platter and you would never even know it. 

            _He may deserve to go to Hell…but nobody deserves to be separated from their eternal soul mate. No one, not even the cruelest creature imaginable should ever be separated from the one they love._

            The android slowly stood up, keeping her eyes locked onto the two lying on the ground. As she inspected closer, her keen eyesight noticed the fading scars on both of their necks. She gasped when she saw that Bulma's was almost completely gone, while Vegeta's glowed an almost soft tint of red…almost like it was burning away, just like their life together had. Neither of them would be able to be wished back with the DragonBalls. Trunks would never have his parents again, and never see his little baby sister…

            Vegeta's head was resting in the crook of her neck, his lips pressing against her nearly invisible mark, giving it a silent kiss. His left hand was resting against her stomach, his hand curled into almost a fist, as if saying to his dead child not to leave him either, leave a piece of your mother with me…

            Now, imagine Juuhachigou's shock as she knelt down to get a closer look at the marks on the mate's neck, and found each of them to be bleeding from the two small puncture wounds that they had set their teeth in years ago. She was almost tempted to touch the small rivulets of blood, for some strange reason she was fascinated by the river. It had to mean something…were the Gods crying for them? Through the blood of each others…or was it a side effect of both sides of the bond being destroyed? It was like a river of red tears, as droplets fell from their necklines, onto the ground, forming a puddle of thick, rich liquid around their heads. After some time the small puddle seeped into the ground, mixing into the Earth. Juuhachigou didn't know how long she sat there, just staring, the light from the moon reflecting on their bodies, casting strange shadows on the field, almost making it look like a imprisonment. The trees started to sway and wind began to howl. Juuhachigou got up quickly, and stole one last glance at them, before flying away silently, towards the Son house. She knew it was going to storm any minute now, and yet she decided to leave them there. She dared not move them from their tangled position. It seemed like a sinful act to commit, and she would never forgive herself if she was the one to remove them. Someone else had to do it; and she was not that person. 

            Suddenly the sky dropped open, letting a waterfall of rain to fall to the Earth's surface. The android flared her energy, making a force field around her body, and she sped up, wanting to get out of the rain as fast as she could…

            Back on the hillside, nobody was there to witness the beautiful scars on the two lovers' necks, completely disappear, never to be seen again. The epic love story on Earth for the two stubborn, arrogant, mates had finally ended. No one would ever hear their fights or their making up. Never again would they make love. Never again would they just hold each other and whisper sweet nothings in each other's ears. Never again would they laugh, or cry, or scream at each other. Never again would their little boy see them. He would never be able to cry on their shoulder, or play a prank on them. They wouldn't see him grow up, go to college, get married, or have kids.  The two soul mates were lost…at least in this life…maybe they would meet again…sometime…in death…after all…soul mates always find their way back to each other again…no matter how hard it is…don't they? Or is that just a mythical story told in fairy tales…?

THE END

END of prologue


	3. Chapter One

I'll Miss You for Eternity the Legacy

Chapter One: Aftermath

                Heads turned as they heard a door creak open, as Juuhachigou entered, slamming the door behind her. Trunks jumped up from where he had been sitting on the Son's couch, sulking. Chi-Chi and Goku looked on from the couch, noticing the distraught look on the android's face.

                "Did everything go okay? Is my Dad alright? Where is he? Why isn't he with you? What took you so long?" 

                Juuhachigou put her hand up, silencing his torrent of questions. When he calmed down she walked towards the kitchen, signaling for the other adults to follow her. Trunks started to follow them so she turned around and told the small boy to stay there for a moment. She sighed when he looked at her confused. "I wish to speak to Goku and Chi-Chi first Trunks. Please, I…we'll be right back."

                Trunks looked at her suspiciously. "Why can you not tell me now? Where is my Father?! I want my Dad right now!" Small tears trickled down his face, whether to his knowledge or not, Juuhachigou did not know. 

                Juuhachigou sighed, kneeling down and grabbing his shoulders, looking him in the eye. "Trunks…" She was shocked at her soft tone. She couldn't remember a time that she had been this caring outside her family. The other two people in the room looked at each other. They sensed the sadness in the android's tone of voice.  

                "Let me speak to Goku first. I need to tell him something." Trunks watched her stand up and leave the room, heading into the kitchen. He sighed at her retreating figure. 

                _Dad…where are you? I need you right now. He walked back to the couch and continued to mope._

                "He's…he's what?" whispered Goku fearfully. He must have heard Juuhachigou wrong. There was no way that Vegeta…that Vegeta could actually be dead! No way! He was fine a few hours ago…well, not emotionally fine, but he…dammit!

                "I said that he's dead! How simpler can I say it?! I saw him die!" Juuhachigou shouted, forgetting that little ears were in the house also. 

                "Both of you calm down," Chi-Chi barked as she turned to Juuhachigou. "Goku wasn't trying to say that you were lying Juuhachigou. This is…it's just so hard to believe. What…what are we going to tell Trunks? He just lost both his parents and unborn sibling in less than three days. A child can not handle that kind of stress!" 

                Goku sat down at the kitchen table. _This is all wrong. Vegeta! Dammit! Why did you have to die damn you?! Trunks needed you! You've left him with no one now! _

_                The other two adults joined the fallen Saiya-jin. They were silent until Juuhachigou whispered, "He loved her."_

                Their heads snapped up from to look Juuhachigou in the eye. "What?" asked Chi-Chi.

                "I heard him. I heard everything that he said in his dieing moments. It was the bond. It must have been so strong, that even Vegeta couldn't fight it off. Although…even if he had a choice to fight, I'm not sure if he would have. He said that they would be separated. He to hell, her to Heaven. He was claimed by the fiery pits Hell just because he was a Saiya-jin. And he told her on his last dieing breath that he would love her. Forever…" Juuhachigou sunk her head down as she repeated some of the words the prince has said to his beloved mate. 

                "Hell? Why would he go to Hell?" wondered Goku out loud. 

                Both Juuhachigou and Chi-Chi stared at him in disbelief. "You're-you're kidding me right Goku?" asked Chi-Chi her voice almost reaching a shriek. What kind of question was that? Why would he go to hell? Chi-Chi would die of shock if he wasn't sentenced to Hell! 

                Goku looked her in the eye, looking serious for one of the few moments in his life. "He changed Chi, you know that."

                Juuhachigou cut in. "It doesn't matter if he has changed, nothing he could have done would have prevented him from going to Hell. He has committed too many crimes Son!"

                Goku turned to face the android. "I know that he has done evil, but they should have given him a longer amount of time to prove himself. If only Bulma hadn't gotten that damn cancer! She wouldn't be dead! And neither would Vegeta!" Goku slammed his fist onto the table in anger, cracking it in half. 

                Chi-Chi reached over and touched her husband's arm. "Calm down Goku. None of us had any idea that this was going to happen. It couldn't have been stopped." Chi-Chi turned away from her husband and looked at the table. "What…what are we going to tell Trunks? He's going to be broken when he finds out. First his mother, and then his Father who he looked up to so much whether Vegeta knew it or not. I could tell…he's going to be devastated."

                The others nodded.

                How could this all have happened? Everything had been going great. From what everyone could tell, Vegeta and Bulma and their son we're all getting along. No huge fights between Bulma and Vegeta. Just a normal verbal dispute a few times a day. Life for them had been going so good, and it could have only gotten better…this shouldn't have happened. Bulma loved Vegeta! And Vegeta…well, they thought he loved her. And now with Juuhachigou verification that was now a true statement. He did love her. The blue hair genius had been the only one that had been able to tame the wild Saiya-jin Prince. Nobody else but she could say that could they? And it worked the other way also. Vegeta had forced Bulma to grow up, and become the woman she was inside. He didn't take away her spirit, that's not what I'm saying. If anything, he only added to it; added more fuel to the fire. He kept her on her toes, and she likewise with him. Both of them were arrogant, prideful, brilliant…they were made for each other. Together they made their sweet little boy, who was growing up so fast that if you blinked you would miss it. 

                After Buu, Vegeta seemed a little more open, and spent much more time with his family. Bulma even had _persuaded _him, using certain methods to take Trunks to the amusement park a few times. Vegeta and Trunks were just starting to get a good a Father and son relationship, and now it was all down the drain. Vegeta couldn't come back and neither could Bulma. The DragonBalls would not help. Bulma had died of a natural cause, which affected Vegeta. They were lost. The only thing that remained of them was the memories that everyone would have now. 

                Would everyone else be upset that Bulma and now Vegeta were dead? Bulma yes…Vegeta? Goku didn't know how many people were going to be able to say that they were going to miss him. Vegeta made a lot of enemies, not just on other planets. Yamcha would probably be thrilled that the 'sonovabitch' was dead. He had never been able to get over the fact that Vegeta had 'stolen' Bulma away from him. He loathed Vegeta, and perhaps Vegeta hated him even more. They certainly would not miss each other.

                But what about Krillen and the others? Would they miss him? In the beginning, no one would go near him, wouldn't talk to him, and they definitely didn't like him one tiny bit. But how about now? Goku had a feeling that they would. Whether Vegeta liked it or not, he was their friend. And they would miss him…

                Goku put his head on the destroyed table and sighed. "I just can't believe that Vegeta is really, truly dead…"

                All three heads turned around in surprise as they heard a gasp and then a small, choked cry of terror. They stared at the boy standing in the doorway, with tears running down his cheeks, his eyes open wide. 

                "Trunks…" moaned Chi-Chi. Trunks cried out again and turned around, running out through the front door, slamming it so hard behind that it split in half. 

                Goku jumped up immediately, taking after the child, leaving the two women in the kitchen alone with their thoughts. "I never intended for him to find out like that…damn, this is all one big huge mess. It couldn't get any worse than it is already…"

                Juuhachigou nodded her head gravely, silently agreeing with the woman. This was just one huge mistake. Or was it? Was this fates idea of a huge joke…?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"TRUNKS!" Goku squinted his eyes through the rain pelting down above him. He was freezing, but he didn't stop to warm himself up. The air was frigid and thin. Dark clouds hung above, letting free all the water that they had been holding in. It hadn't rained this hard in ages. Goku closed his eyes, and sighed. Were they really crying for them? The gods he meant. Where the god's crying for the two lost souls? It seemed that way to him. 

                Opening his eyes, he sped up and before long he saw a small glimmer in front of him. "TRUNKS!" He screamed so loud that his voice cracked, his throat growing hoarse. "Come back! STOP!" When the light in front of him only flew faster he growled and flared his _ki._

                He had caught up the boy in the blink of an eye.

                The older male appeared in front of the boy, making him stop short. When Trunks realized who it was, he dodged him and flew even faster. Goku turned around and grabbed his arm, hurling him back into his chest. He held him from behind, his arms in his tight grasp.

                "LET ME GO!" Trunks screamed through a river of tears. He kicked with his legs, thrashing about wildly, and he mangaged to back hand Goku in the head, bursting forward when the surprised man let him go. 

                Goku rubbed his head and blinked his eyes for a second before taking after him again. Putting on more speed he caught up and pulled the same stunt as before, watching to make sure that the boy didn't hit him by surprise. 

                Trunks screamed and screamed until he could cry out no longer. He went limp and every once and awhile he would mutter and whisper, "Let me go…leave me alone…" Trunks felt the arms around him loosen and he gathered his remaining strength that he had and broke free, turning around and kicking Goku in the gut. 

                Goku doubled over in pain. _Dammit, when the Hell did this kid get so strong?_ Holding his stomach he watched Trunks fly off again. This time though, he didn't fly after him right away. Instead he slowly started to follow him. He thought that he would give the overwhelmed child some time to calm down. It wasn't everyday that you lost both of your parents. He figured that he needed to be alone for awhile. But he wasn't about to leave him out here all alone. Who knew what he would do if he had the chance…

                He kept track of Trunks' _ki_ monitoring it for any major increases or decreases. He paused when he felt the energy drop and then rise again, and then drop once again. Startled, Goku flew faster. He stopped when he reached a small hill and looked below him, feeling that Trunks was down there. He looked around and the grass covered ground, with trees hanging overhead. The wind howled, getting louder and louder each second that it blew by. Goku ignored the freezing cold rain as he landed on the ground, his feet not making any sound.

                He walked forward attentively, watching for any movement ahead of him. He stopped, dead in his tracks as a loud wailing voice sounded over the wind. He ran forward, knowing that it had to be Trunks.   

                It was Trunks. Goku gasped at the sight before him. Trunks was laying on top of two immobile bodies, crying his tiny heart out. Goku shut his eyes, trying to not cry himself. Just listening to the heart wrenching cries made him want to collapse alongside the boy and weep with him. Even without getting closer, Goku knew where he was and who Trunks was crying for. _This must be the place where Juuhachigou heard Vegeta pour his heart out to Bulma…_

_                "T-Trunks?" Goku reached out his hand as he approached cautiously. When he reached the purple haired boy he kneeled down next to him. He just sat there, watching Trunks cry harder and harder with each gasp of unsteady breath. They must have been there for more than fifteen minutes, Trunks never moving his head of his Father's back where he had settled. _

                As the minutes went by, the sobs slowly died down until they became small hiccups. Goku waited until he heard a steady rhythm of breathing and that was when he touched Trunks' back softly, grabbing him and brining him to his chest. He brushed the sopping wet hair out of his eyes and stared into the tears stained face of the sleeping boy. _He must have cried himself to sleep…_

                As Goku looked back to the still bodies he felt like crying. But he had to be strong. What good would it do if Trunks woke up and saw Goku breaking down? No good at all… Goku placed Trunks on the muddy ground next to him and stared at the two dead mates. He didn't know what to do. Should he bring them back to the house? Or just leave them here and let someone else do it? He considered for a moment letting Trunks be the one to move his parents, but he thought that the boy was already traumatized. He didn't need anything else to set him off. He sighed and reached down, slowly moving Vegeta from where he had been above Bulma. He placed him next to his son and then grabbed Bulma doing the same. He stood up and looked down at them. How was he going to carry all three of them back to his house?

                He picked up Trunks, touching his fingers to his forehead and disappeared, only to reappear in his kitchen, starling the two women. He didn't say a word as he ran back out the door and into the icy rain. He jumped into the air and flew at breakneck speed until he reached the field. The two bodies were in the same position that he had left them in. He knelt down and grabbed both their arms in one huge hand, and then placed his finger upon his head once more. 

Chi-Chi screamed and jumped back from where she had been tending Trunks as three beings appeared in her kitchen. "Goku! What the Hell?! Don't do that!" she hushed immediately and gasped when she saw the cargo that her husband was holding. She ran over to them, ignoring Juuhachigou s horrified look. 

                Juuhachigou stood up and grabbed Trunks bringing him into the living room. Should he wake up while he was in there, well, she didn't know how he would react. She sat on the couch with him watching the rise and fall of his chest, and listening to the tiny whimpers coming from him.

                "Goku…" Chi-Chi gaped as he husband stood up and dried himself with his _ki quickly. Chi-Chi backed away and sat in one of the chairs, resting her head against her fists. "What are we going to do?"_

                Goku shook his head, not knowing either. He was just as confused as his wife. "I don't know Chi…" he whispered. "I just don't know…."

                Chi-Chi let out a sob. It was so hard staring at her best friend and her dead mate. Goku made his way over to her swiftly and wrapped his arms around her in a strong, yet gentle embrace. "It's okay Chi.  Everything is going to be alright…"

                "How is everything going to be all right?!" Chi-Chi screeched, making Goku wince, but to his credit he didn't let go. He just buried his head into her hair, trying not to let his own tears fall. "Nothing is going to be okay! Bulma is dead! Vegeta is dead! What is Trunks going to do?! Who's going to take care of him?!" She banged her fist against her husband's chest angrily, tears streaming down her face. 

                Goku grunted at the hit against him, knowing that she was getting overworked. "Chi…he has his Grandparents…"

                "Not for long! They aren't getting any younger you know! What's he to do when they leave him too?!" Chi-Chi tore herself out of Goku's grasp and sunk to the floor, next to the body of Bulma. "This just isn't fair…" She turned her gaze to where her husband was staring at her through saddened eyes. "Why did this have to happen Goku-chan…" she whispered, letting her tears fall even stronger. 

                Goku didn't know what to do. He was never good at comforting people. He never was, and never would be. It just wasn't his nature to say that everything was going to be alright, when everything wasn't going to be. Chi-Chi…everything that she had spoken was true. Trunks was an orphan with nobody but his Grandparents to take care of him. And what happened when they left him too? Chi-Chi was right. They weren't getting any younger. And now, with the death of Bulma and Vegeta, the grief could possibly be too much for them…What would happen to Trunks?

                "Chi, we can't worry about that now. Okay? We will cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, we need to plan another funeral for Vegeta…and, we need to bury them both…" It pained Goku a great deal to say those words. These two were his best friends. How could he just dig a hole and leave them there?! 

                Chi-Chi nodded and allowed Goku to help her up. She sniffed when he kneeled down and touched the two on the arms again. _I should bring them to Capsule Corps…_ "I'll be right back," he said softly as he locked onto the faint energy signals of Bulma's parents. Chi-Chi sunk into a chair as he disappeared, waiting for him to come back. 

                A few minutes later he appeared in front of her, his head down. 

                "What happened?" she asked gravely,

                "Well, when I got there, I hadn't meant to scare anyone. Mrs. Briefs fainted and Dr. Briefs went crazy on me…" he shook his head trying to forget the memory of the tearful father looking on as Goku had placed both bodies on a metal lab table and then quietly left. "But…everything will be taken care of. Dr. Briefs said that he would arrange another funeral. I offered to let Trunks stay here for awhile. I wasn't sure how he would react if he went home to find the bodies of his parents."

                Chi-Chi smiled slightly. "Of course he can stay here Goku. He can stay as long as he wants or needs. Maybe Goten will be of some help to him."

                "Yeah…maybe…hopefully," he responded. Suddenly he thought of something. "Wait! Didn't Juuhachigou say something about how Vegeta said he was going to Hell?!"

                Chi-Chi sighed. "Dear, we went over this already. We told you, there no chance that Vegeta would go to He—"

                "What if there was?" Goku said cutting her off.

                A perplexed look over came Chi-Chi's features. "What do you mean Goku?"

                "King Yemma! He would have to listen to me! I mean, how many times have I saved the Earth and what not? Don't you think that he owes me something?"

                Chi-Chi put her head in her hands. "Goku, what are you trying to say?"

                "Sorry Chi, can't talk now. Make sure Trunks is okay when he wakes. I'll be back soon!" Without another word he disappeared, leaving a very confused woman at the table…

End of Chapter One

*Well? How was that? Anyway, I would like to thank all the kind people who have reviewed so far. You're what keeps me going. And yes, I do know that this chapter is rather late, but I've been busy with other crap. I'm sick right, and I can't even talk, so I decided to do something constructive instead of just laying in bed all day. I think that tomorrow I might just stay home from school. I feel like serious crap. I think I caught this girl's cold at a sleepover I went to two days ago. Grr…Anyway, as soon as I can, the next chapter will be up. Thanks again for those who have reviewed. I appreciate it. Sorry about the short chapter. I'll try and make the next one longer. 

~ . ~ Vegeta's Mate


	4. Chapter Two

Author's Note: Again I have to thank all the kind people who have reviewed so far and a big thanks for those who have put me on their favorites list. 

In this chapter, I KNOW Vegeta is out of character [in some parts], but I made him that way for a reason. Don't go flaming me saying that he's OOC, because I already know that. Dammit, I'm the one that wrote it! Got that? Hahazzz…my friend told me that I sound like a total bitch in my author's notes. Good! [Although, I'm not really a bitch…at least I don't think so…] Ah, I'm getting off topic here. Just enjoy reading it! And if you don't enjoy it, that's your loss. XD

*NOTE* I do not mean to offend anyone in this chapter with my views of the afterlife and what not. It is only for the story that I am writing it for. Sorry in advance for anything that may upset you. I am NOT saying that what I right is true, it's just how I see things. And YES, I do KNOW that in DragonBall Z, they do show a portion of 'the other world' and it doesn't look like what I am describing…but come on…work with me. Thank you.

I'll Miss Your for Eternity the Legacy

Chapter Two: Oh No!

Where is Heaven? No…really…where exactly is it? Some people believe that it is up above the Earth, among the clouds, where the angels and gods can look down upon us. But…does that really make sense? Not to me it doesn't. 

                Why Earth? Why would Heaven be on Earth, when there are millions of billions of other planets and species? It would make no sense if Earth had been chosen to hold this sacred land. What have we done to deserve that? Nothing. There are far more eligible races out there, which have done so much more than us. Who are kind to one another, and don't inflict pain on the ones that they love. So I ask again, where exactly is heaven? If you believe that rubbish about it being in the clouds, then I leave you to that. But…what if it's a different plane, a different dimension so to speak?

                Perhaps there are still clouds, and maybe even some of the clouds inhabit tiny little beings with harps and wings. Is that what you see when you think of Heaven? But how do we really know? Have any of you actually seen Heaven and then come back to tell the tale? I doubt it. Maybe it isn't really like that at all. 

                When we think of Heaven, we envision small little cherubs dancing and singing, and experiencing joy. Looking down from the Heavens at their loved ones on Earth. And then, waiting for them by the gates of Heaven and Hell, hoping and wishing that they will come with them, and not down into the pits of darkness. And most of them do go to Heaven. There are maybe I select few that are from Earth that would go to Hell. That soul must have done some horrible things in their life to be condemned to Hell, where the nastiest and most dangerous beings dwell. But back to what I was saying…

                We dream of Heaven being our sanctuary, where we can 'live happily ever after'. Maybe for some people yes, but for others…What if…what if Heaven could be someone's own personal Hell? What if they _wished_ to go to Hell? Has there ever been such a person? Who would want to go to Hell? No one in their right mind would ever consider it once they see the joys that Heaven could bring them. 

                What if you were driven? Driven to be with the one that you loved. What if the one they cared for, the one they love is not with them? Think about this for a moment…if the one you wanted, the one you desired, the one you longed for had been sent to Hell, what would you do? Would you do _anything_ to get to them? Anything? Would you forgo your pure heart, your clean hands; untainted by the blood of others? Would you give up the morals you have lived for your whole life? Would you sacrifice…your whole existence? Would you? To be with the one you cherished and still would love for all eternity? To save them from the dark, deep fiery pits of Hell? 

                There are two beings who would sacrifice all that they had, all that they had ever wanted or dreamed of. Just to be with each other. Would they succeed? Or fail wretchedly…?

                Before you were to reach the rolling, green hills, which spread out across the countryside…well, not really countryside, since we are not in a country so to speak, but _where ever this place is…before you reach the plains and meadows you would see a tall, towering structure, with a long winding road leading into it. You wouldn't be able to see were the road started from. It was endless. Who knew how long it would take if it __were possible to get to the starting point. _

                Little white spirits dotted the road; waiting to be processed, and sent to Heaven or Hell, where at a later checkpoint would be given back their bodies so they may live above or below. It was a breath taking and alluring sight. All you could see was the path in front of you, and then above you…clouds. Just endless, rolling, white puffy clouds. They looked so thick that you might have been able to sit your rump onto one and not fall through. Maybe you could…but that's not what we are going to talk about now are we? 

                As I was saying, forgive me, I get off topic quite a lot. As you got closer and close to the gates of Heaven and Hell, you could hear commotions, ones coming from inside the building and ones from outside. The outside noises were just the confused spirits arguing with the workers. But the ones inside, were from souls, not wanting to cooperate with the King. 

                King who? King Yemma to be precise. He was one of the Gods you could say. He had control over who went to Hell and who went onwards to Heaven. He was a big man…err…Demon who sat a large desk, with even larger stacks of papers piled on top of it. It was baffling. How did all those papers stay in one, wobbling heap and not fall over? It was amazing to say the least. 

                Like most days, Yemma had a headache. He hated his job sometimes. It was just so tedious and boring. The only time that he _actually_ had fun was when one of the spirits was rather stubborn. He was an excellent bickerer.  He could outmatch anyone…almost. There were a select few that he rather not think of at the moment that had given him quite some trouble. So much trouble, that if they hadn't already been dead he would have killed them himself! Infuriating little monsters they were! 

                Yemma growled as he read the next name off the list. _Vegeta…Saiya-jin Prince…yadda yadda yadda. __Saiya-jin. Evil little beasts. Must I even continue to read his damn profile? Should just send him to Hell like the others._

However, Yemma knew that he had a job to do, and he would do it right. As he was reading, he came across that the Prince had died twice before…_yes…now I remember him. Grr…he was one of those few that I rather not mention! It will only give me a headache! _Shaking his head he continued to read his eyes growing wide a few times hear and there. _Mated with an Earthling...half-breed son…was expecting another one…comrade with fellow Saiya-jin Kakkarot-- Earthling name Goku…!_ "Goku…" he muttered out loud. _Why would this beast who has committed so many crimes that I can not stand to read every__ single one of them be friends with Goku?! Savior of the Universe? Yemma shook his head in disbelief yet continued to read on. Growing bored he skipped to the end of the files. _Cause of death…cause of death…ah ha! Here we go…_ Skimming through the words he stroked his chin and leaned against the table on his elbow. _

                Sighing, he looked to one of his minions standing next to the desk. The smaller demon nodded, catching the Lord's drift. "Next in line. Vegeta, Prince of All Saiya-jins."

                Yemma groaned in exasperation, hoping to get this over as quickly as possible. Looking over to the pile of papers to his left he growled. _Why did I have to get stuck with this job? I never get a damn break. People die every second!_

                Yemma tapped his fingers against the oak desk, his head resting in his palm. He looked on carelessly as the prideful figure of the Prince walked into the massive hall. The smaller demon resumed his place beside the desk, fearfully staring at the arrogant Saiya-jin. He would be crazy if he didn't remember him. He touched his head slightly and winced. People often wondered how he had lost his other horn…

                "VEGETA. We meet again," came the booming voice of the demon Lord. He looked on with a glimmer of surprise in his eyes when the arrogant Prince did nothing but stare at the floor. He shook his head. _Mortals…_ Grabbing the file that he had been looking at before he opened it and skimmed it again. "Hmm…yes…oh dear…" He cast the folder aside after a moment and folded his hands, looking down at the dead Saiya-jin. "Well Prince…I don't know why we are even bothering with this. We both know where you are headed. So, if you would kindly just walk that way, we could be done and I can move on." He pointed a finger to the right where there was a humongous door with a reddish-blackish hue emitting from within. 

                Vegeta looked at the King for a moment before silently walking towards the door. Yemma's eyes widened. He…he hadn't expected that! Where was the resistance? The hate? All he saw was shame and sadness on this mortal being. This was not the proud warrior that he had met years ago. Where did all the fight go? Oh well…why did he care?  He was just doing his job that was assigned to him by some God above who wanted to kill him with boredom. 

                Reaching over to the side of the desk, Yemma picked up the stamp that said 'HELL' and was just about to forcefully stamp the Prince's paper when a frantic voice stopped him in his tracks. 

                "King Yemma, wait!"

                Yemma's eyes widened when Goku appeared on his desk, causing papers to fly all about, landing on the floor. "GOKU! Look what you have done!" He glared at the smaller man, who just set a hand behind his head and laughed nervously. 

                "Sorry about that King Yemma." His face sobered immediately. "I need to talk to you Yemma. It's about someone named Vegeta. You see—"

                "Vegeta?!" cried King Yemma, eyes opening further in disbelief. 

                Goku looked at him strangely. "Yeah…you see; he can't go to Hell!" Goku paused when the Demon King gave a hearty chuckle, throwing his head back and letting a full laugh out. "Wha—why are you laughing King Yemma? This is a SERIOUS matter I'm here to talk about!"

                Yemma wiped a stray tear that had crept out of the corner of his eye from laughing so hard. "Well, Goku. It seems that you are a bit late for that. I just sent him on his way not a moment ago. Quite sorry. Now, if you would kindly move your dirty boots off these pape—"

                "YOU WHAT?!" screeched Goku. "You've already processed him?! Isn't that supposed to take forever?!" Goku paused in his tirade and his eyes opened in shock. "OH NO! I failed! NO! NO! NO!" He started pacing on the desk, banging his head with his hands furiously. "What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?!" He looked frantically around the room…err…not quite knowing what to do now. 

                Yemma stared at him before shaking his head. "I'll tell you what you can do. You can get OFF my desk, and go HOME Goku!" He looked on angrily as Goku's eyes met his. 

                "King Yemma! Where did you send him off too?!"

                Yemma looked at him strangely. "To Hell of course."

                Goku sighed. "I know THAT already Yemma. But how does he get there?!"

                "To get to Hell? Through that red door on the right, but I see n--" Yemma blinked and stopped speaking. Staring at the spot where Goku has once been standing. He scowled at the dirty boot prints on his papers. He let out a shriek when Goku reappeared in the same spot again, only this time he had company. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS GOKU?!" He stood up and glared down at the two Saiya-jin men. One looking on confused the other panting heavily. 

                "Wow King Yemma. You told me that just in time. Vegeta was next in line to go to Hell! But isn't it a good thing that I grabbed him first?!"

                "NO!" yelled two voices. 

                Before Yemma could get a heated word in, Vegeta stepped up to Goku and grabbed him by the front of his orange gi. "Kakkarot," he hissed, "What do you think you are doing?!" Vegeta stared up into the face of the smiling idiot. 

                "Saving you from Hell!" answer Goku gleefully. "You don't know just how scared I was when I found out that Yemma had put you through already. Whew…now that…could give someone a heart attack." Goku's smile dropped off his face when a hard punch landed rite between his eyes, throwing him back to the other side of the massive desk. 

                Goku groaned and propped himself on his elbows, feeling his nose to make sure that it wasn't broken. It was bleeding slightly, but nothing to be worried about. He lifted his head up to stare at the form Vegeta who was stalking slowly to Goku, a snarl plastered on his face. "What's the big idea Vegeta? You don't hit someone who just saved you from Hell."

                "Who said that he was saved from Hell?!" screeched Yemma, but his voice was ignored as Vegeta phased in front of the fallen man. 

                The enraged Prince bent down and lifted Goku up from the floor by his collar once again. "You baka," He whispered.

To be continued…

Authors Note: I am very sorry guys about not updating right away. I've had serious writer's block. But yesterday I decided to get off my lazy butt and write some stuff. But I was almost finished with this chapter when the whole state of New York and some other states had this huge blackout. And of course, with my luck I forgot to save everything I wrote. So I started it over this morning. Yesterday I wrote a lot more than this, but I'm deciding to cut it here and post it after my Beta reader reads it. Then I can post it and continue on. I just felt like I should post finally. And if I had kept writing this chapter, I don't think it would have been done any time soon. So here it is, what did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know if you feel like it! This chapter was more of humor chapter… there won't be more of these in this story, so this is pretty much it for the humor. [I think…] Haha. I'm thinking of starting a mailing list, so if you want to know when this story or any of my other stories are updated, send me and email to ico@si.rr.com. Or just email if you feel like chatting. Other than that, look for a new chapter relatively soon. Ja ne!


	5. Chapter Three

Authors Note: Hey, it's me again. Back with another update! Let's celebrate! 

[Silence]

Ok…so maybe we won't…heh…

Anyway, sorry for the last chapter. I know that it was kind of short. -.-;;

Erm…well I don't really have anything else to say besides thank you to all my faithful reviewers out there. I don't know what I would do without you guys giving me all the encouraging words. But don't forget, I don't mine constructive criticism. So if you see something you don't like, comment on it. I won't get mad. ^_^ So here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! 

I'll Miss You for Eternity the Legacy

Chapter Three

            "You baka," he whispered. His grip on the man's shirt tightened and he growled low in his throat. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" His voice was full of malice, his eyes shining with revealed anger. 

            Goku stared him in the eyes, confusion showing. "Wha…what are you talking about Vegeta?" He rubbed his nose, trying not to wince at the pain. "And why did you hit me? I didn't do anything!"

            "Like hell you didn't do anything." He let go of his gi, stepping back and crossing his arms, sending a glare full of hate at his fellow Saiya-jin.  "Why are you here Kakkarot?"

            "Isn't it obvious Vegeta? I came to try and get you out of Hell!" Goku was still confused at Vegeta's actions. "Don't…don't you want to go to Heaven?" 

            Vegeta hissed. "Get out of here Kakkarot. I do not wish for your help. I do not need your help. Leave me be and go away." 

            "You didn't answer my question Vegeta."

            Vegeta scowled. He didn't have to answer to this baka. "Fuck off Kakkarot before I kill you."            

            Goku's gazed hardened as he said, "Don't give me that shit Vegeta. You know that doesn't work on me. Everyone else might be afraid of you, but I'm not."

            Vegeta's eyes widened just a fraction. He very rarely heard Goku swear. He pushed the surprise away and said, "Look Kakkarot. Just leave me alone. I don't WANT your help, I don't NEED your help."

            "Yes you do Vegeta. Are you just going to walk into Hell? When I can possibly get you into Heaven?" 

            "DAMN you, you IDOTIC moron! I don't want to go to Heaven! Get that through your head and just leave me the hell alone!" yelled Vegeta, his fists tightening as he brought his arms down to his sides. 

            Goku didn't move from Vegeta's outburst. He had gotten quite used to them over the years. He asked calmly, "And why do you not want to Vegeta? And don't tell me to 'fuck off' and 'mind your own business Kakkarot', because I'm not buying it. And I am NOT leaving here until you give me an honest answer." The next thing Goku knew, Vegeta was up in his face again, hissing almost like a cat, his sharp fangs bore. 

            "You want an 'honest' answer?" he spat out. "I'll give you one, only if you leave me the FUCK alone damn you." He moved back and started to pace, his hands behind his back, his face in a mask of anger and confusion. He didn't know where to start. He growled in frustration. He might as well just come out and say it. 

            "What…what makes you THINK that I deserve to go to…Heaven?" he glared at Goku, telling him to shut up before he even began to speak. "Do not interrupt me Kakkarot. I am saying this once, and once only." Goku nodded, knowing that he must be silent or Vegeta would close up like a locked book and he would never get the answer he was looking for. 

            "Don't bother giving me, 'but you've changed Vegeta' or, 'you've started to do good deeds Vegeta, I think that you deserve a second chance and you should be allowed into Heaven.'" mimicked Vegeta, his face forming a deeper frown. "I don't think that you understand something Kakkarot." He stopped his pacing and stared at the larger man, looking him right in the eye. Goku tried not to shiver. He saw so much pain hidden behind those dark orbs that he just wanted to reach out and embrace Vegeta, telling him that it was okay, but instead he remained silent and still. "I have done so many horrible things in my lifetime that it would take years to tell you all. And by the end of it you would be screaming and running, trying to get it all out of your head. Trying to forget all of it. But I can't just FORGET it Kakkarot. The faces and screams will haunt me forever. That is why I will not and cannot go above. I have done nothing worthy to even be thought of sending up there. You think that I've done 'good' things on Earth? Bah! All those times that I 'helped' you weak, pathetic fools was just for my own good. Get it through your thick skull Kakkarot that I am a selfish, hateful, murderer, and that will never change, no matter how many years I live in peace."

            "That's not true Vegeta," replied Goku. 

            "Yes it is Kakkarot, and you damn well know it. I deserve no 'second chances'. I deserve to go to Hell. My people are there, waiting for me. How…how fair would it be if I went to Heaven, while my people, my blood are trapped beneath? Wondering when their Prince will be coming? I have done more dirty deeds than half my people there combined. I have killed so many innocents. Men, women, CHILDREN. Some are down there for destroying a single planet. You want to know how many planets I've destroyed Kakkarot?" Vegeta paused for a moment and then hissed, "I've destroyed so many that I've lost count." He started his pacing again as Goku looked on silently. 

            "I will not abandon my people Kakkarot. I have…waited so many years to be reunited with them. Do you know how many years I wished that I would just die? That someone would end my worthless life so I could be free of the tormenting? Do you know how many nights I would lay in my room on Frieza's ship, bloody and barely conscious? Just wishing for that release? That Frieza would just FUCKING kill me already?" He stopped his pacing and stared back at Goku. "You have no idea how many times I felt like ending my own life. But then I would stop and think…and think about what my Father would say if I appeared in Hell after killing myself. He would have been so angry and so ashamed. And I would not, and COULD NOT go through that. I was the Legendary. That was what he always told me when I was younger. I was the one to rise above all and take back the Saiya-jin throne. That was what he had wanted, and that was what I knew I had to do. And he KNEW that I was going to be the one that destroyed Frieza once and for all. He believed in ME, and I was not about to let him down. And after YOU and Mirai Trunks killed him, I knew that I couldn't die then. Because I had failed what my Father wanted, and what my people wanted.  And then…the woman and the brat. And I couldn't leave then. Not when my life was…was perhaps starting to…to go uphill instead of falling apart around me like it always had done in the past."

            Vegeta closed his eyes tight and tried to calm his ragged breath. When he opened them again he sent a look at Goku that made him step back. "Now…now that I'm dead… and I can't be brought back… I realize that I cannot keep running from my past, my people, my father. I always knew in the back of my mind I would have to face them one day. Whether they will be ashamed of me I do not know…" He let out a half hearted laugh. "I hate to imagine the look on my Father's face when I tell him that I died from a broken bond…" 

            "Vegeta…you…you can go to Heaven…if you're so afraid of what your people will think…then…" Goku sighed and looked at Vegeta. He knew what the Prince meant…but he just couldn't let him go to Hell! He would do everything to change his mind. "What about Bulma? Are you just going to leave her up there all alone?"

            Vegeta glared at Goku. "Don't bring her into this Kakkarot."

            "Why not?! She's your _mate Vegeta! Are you just going to leave her up there without you? She'll die of heartache, you know that!"_

            "My mate is stronger than you may think Kakkarot! She doesn't need me," snarled Vegeta. Why wouldn't this fool just leave him alone already?

            "Do you know how much it's going to break her heart, when I have to tell her that you chose to be with your people…instead of her?"

            "She'll understand…it's not as if I have a choice either way. I am destined to go to Hell. There is nothing to be discussed here Kakkarot." With that he turned and started to walk to the Gates of Hell, with Yemma sighing in annoyance. 

            "Look Goku! Even the damned isn't arguing with his fate! Let him be, let ME be and go off on your merry way. Shoo! I have work to do! And I cannot do it with you here! Go _home Goku, and forget about it." King Yemma pointed his finger out of the palace and looked at Goku expectantly. _

            Goku ignored the large demon. What did he know anyway? He wasn't sure if his next move was a smart one…but he was running out of ideas here. "Do you know how Trunks reacted today Vegeta?"

            Those softly spoken words made Vegeta stop cold in his tracks. He clenched his fists together, clamping his eyes shut. "Be quiet Kakkarot, if you know what's good for you." 

            "No Vegeta, I won't be quiet. This is something too important to just ignore. I know that you want to walk away, and forget everything---"

            Vegeta whirled around, fury dancing in his eyes. "YOU KNOW NOTHING KAKKAROT!" He flew at Goku, his fist slamming into his rivals face as he shouted, "You think this is easy?! To accept my fate and walk away from everything that I've built up in my life?! Do you?!" He smashed his hand into his stomach, and flew after the younger man as he was thrown back. 

            _Dammit, maybe that wasn't such a good idea…_ thought Goku as he was thrown back into one of the brick walls of the building. "Vegeta! Stop this and listen to me for a moment!" He jumped back up and caught Vegeta's fist with his own hand and spun the Prince so that he was crushed against his chest. Pinning his hands down at his sides he shouted, "What do you think will happen when Trunks finds out you went to Hell, willingly?! He NEEDS you Vegeta! You going to Hell will not help him! How can you expect me to go home and tell him all of this?! I can't do that! I will not do that! He doesn't need this Vegeta and neither does Bulma! You don't need this! Don't you want to be happy Vegeta?! For once in your life, don't you want the pain to stop?!" He let go of Vegeta who jumped away from him, breathing heavily. 

            "It doesn't matter where I go Kakkarot, the pain will never stop. I have to do this Kakkarot, my son and mate would understand if they were here. You can't change fate Kakkarot. Not even you. I—I just don't belong anywhere else. Just as my mate and son don't belong any place other than Heaven. It's how it was meant to be." He sighed. "Trunks is strong…I know he's young…but he's stronger than I had ever hoped to be at that age." Vegeta looked Goku in the eye. "I…I need you to look after him while I'm gone…keep training him and teaching him…after his grandparents are gone, I…I ask you to let him live with you."

            Goku nodded. "Of course Vegeta. But…"

            "Don't lie to him Kakkarot. Don't tell him I went to a good place…And whatever you do…you can't forget to tell him that… tell him that I'm proud of him…and…and that even though I never really showed it, I _do_ love him. Don't ever let him forget that Kakkarot." Vegeta sighed and tried not to let his composure fall. He could say this. He _had_ to say this. It was his last chance to let her know. "Kakkarot…next time that you see…her…tell her that…" _Dammit!_ _I can't do this it's…it's too hard… Vegeta clamped his eyes shut and continued on. "Thank her for…for giving me a son…for trusting me and believing in me even when I had given up on myself. Thank her for defending me, for never doubting me. And…and…tell her that…I'm happy she changed me…And if I had to do everything in my life all over again just t-to be with her…that…that I would…and I wouldn't change a thing." _

            Vegeta's eyes opened and he looked into the stunned face of Goku. 

            "Vegeta…I…how can I…" Goku was speechless…what was he supposed to say to that? 

            "Promise me Kakkarot… if you can give me anything, give me that. Give me your word that you will tell Trunks and Bulma all I've said." The Saiya-jin Prince's eyes were pleading.

            Goku nodded slowly. "I promise Vegeta…You have my word." 

            Before Vegeta could speak, something grabbed Goku from behind and held him tightly has he struggled. "What the---"

            Yemma glared down at them all. Neither of them had noticed when he had called for Pikan to come down and stop this madness. "That is quiet enough Goku. I asked you nicely before, yet you still don't listen to me! It's your time to leave, and it's the Prince's time to leave also. Say your last goodbye, because it's over. Pikan," He turned to look at the green being, "I don't care how you do it, get that Saiya-jin out of here!" 

            Pikan nodded and started to drag away Goku. 

            Goku started to thrash about but he was helped in a vice grip. "Vegeta! Wait! Pikan! Let go of me dammit! Let. Go. Of. Me!" Pikan was shoved backwards and lost his grip on the stronger man before he could even blink.

            Vegeta's eyes widened as he found himself in a death grip, crushed against the other man's chest. "Kakk---arot! What…what are you doing?!" He tried to push the larger man away from the embarrassing situation but it was to no avail. 

            Clutching Vegeta in a fierce hug he whispered, "I know that you have to do this, and I'm sorry that I tried to change your mind. I'll make sure that Bulma and Trunks hear every word." 

            By this time Vegeta had stopped moving and just stood there, not really knowing what to do. "Thank you Kakkarot." 

            Goku tried to grin but he just couldn't do it. "No problem little buddy," he laughed when Vegeta growled, "Thanks for always being there…I know you enjoyed it, even when you said you hated it! Don't try and deny that! And I hope you know that you were always more than a sparring partner to me," His tone grew more serious now. "Just…thanks for being my best friend." 

            With wide eyes Vegeta nodded. _I have to say it now…it's my last chance… "L-likewise Kakkarot…tell…tell Bulma that I love her…and that I'll miss her…forever." With that he pushed Goku away as Pikan came up and grabbed the man, and once again started to drag him away._

            Looking into Goku's eyes, Vegeta silently thanked him and Goku nodded back. "Don't try and stop me this time Kakkarot." Turning away Vegeta walked through the door, Goku was dragged away by Pikan, and King Yemma sighed with relief as he forcefully stamped HELL on Vegeta's file, before discarding it to the side. 

            Finally outside, Goku's eyes leaked. "We'll miss you Vegeta…"

TBC…

            Wow…I did not like this chapter at all…now that I read it over; it seems so…blah…nothing like I was trying to aim for! GR! [Crumples up paper and throws it behind head] Damn, this chapter was so hard to write…-mutters- I still don't like it…One day when I feel up to it, I'm gonna re-write this chapter! I will! [Bares fangs in fury]

            Whew…anyway…wow…this chapter was…really…late…eh… [Dodges multiple knives and swords thrown at head] OI! Aren't you people just supposed to throw fruits and vegetables?! Eeeee! [Scurries away] Geta! Help me! [Glomps on Geta and hides in his hair] They're throwing sharp, pointy objects at me!!! [Squints eyes to see something in the distance] Gasp! Is that---I see you Zerc! Are you…Did you organize this?! [Gets chased by Zerc] AH! I knew it was youuuuuuuuuuuu!

            Okay, please don't ask what the hell THAT [points above] was…I'm high on sugar right now…can't be helped…eh…Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay…gomen gomen! I'm just so lazy… [Almost gets hit by a knife] Whew…good save Geta! [Pats Geta on head] Hm…so what did you think? You can tell me the truth! I'm a big girl! ^_^; No, seriously, tell me what you thought of it, so when I eventually re-write this chapter I can help make it more to your liking, and my liking. Anyway, I should be doing my term projects and English essay right now…am I? [Looks around innocently] Heh…of course I am Mom! I'm almost done! [Runs off to go start]

            I have NO idea when the next chapter will be, so I'm not saying anything, for fear of having more sharp and pointy things thrown at my head. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

PS: I just updated my other fic, Days of Our Lives also! [HINT HINT!] Check it out! 

-Geta


	6. Chatper Four

Chapter Four:

Endless white and gold.

That was all that he saw as he gazed about the Upper Lands. Inside his head, it was a whirlwind of thoughts—full of chaos and confusion. Had that really, truly happened? Was this a dream? Someone playing a cruel trick on him? On all of them?

No…

NO. 

It wasn't. 

It wasn't a dream.

Or a trick.

Because it had really, _truthfully_ happened. 

It wasn't a joke. 

It was real.

And for the first time in his entire life, Goku felt utterly _hopeless._

Sighing, he let his eyes wander among the clouds. Everything was so…peaceful. It was all…simple and clean. Nothing but straightforward. It all had a place and was in it. 

It was nothing like what he felt. It contrasted so deeply. 

Inside he was in complete turmoil.

He moaned softly in agony and despair.

He wished he could be that simple. He wanted to things to be calm and have nothing to do with complications that would make his life difficult. 

_If only it could all go away._

 What was he supposed to do _now?_ How was he supposed to go home, and tell Trunks that his Mother and his Father weren't coming back to him? Who would want to be the person whom delivered that message to a small, ten year old _child?_ Certainly not he. 

Yet it seemed like he had no choice in the matter. This was his task; his responsibility. And for once he wasn't going to be able to beat around the bush and make everything better in a matter of days, hours even. No, this was reality. Reality wasn't something you could just brush aside to be dealt with later. It was _now_, not _later_. It could _never_ be later. And it could never just _disappear._

It never left. 

It's always with you, constricting your heart; squeezing and clutching. It makes you gasp for air as if you were dieing; bleeding your life out as precious moments flash by in your horror stricken eyes. Reality follows you wherever you go, haunting and frightening, though always inconceivable.  

It's the cold hard, _truth._ It's harsh and it's cruel. 

Reality burned like a bitch. 

And he had just received a nice firm smack across the face in his opinion. 

As the thoughts continued to swirl inside his head, one of them was relentless and kept flashing in his mind like a beacon on a lighthouse. It was a question that he had no answer for. 

Correction.

He had an answer. He would just rather ignore it.

What was he to do now? 

  ---

He felt a bit odd as he knocked softly on the front door of a small home. He had never been to this part of Heaven. When he had been here, he had been taken up to the Kai's Palace to train. He had no knowledge of what anything else looked like. He had never actually left the sanctuary of the Kai's planet. Well, unless you count the few times he had visited Hell to put some miscreant back in their rightful place. 

Hell. 

He sighed.

But now, here he was. Standing in front of a door connected to a wooden house. It almost reminded him of his own home, for it was quite small and looked as if it belonged in a forested area. Feeling a bit nervous he rapped against the surface again, trying to untangle the knots of dread in his stomach. 

After a few more moments of silent waiting he gave a long groan. What was he to do now? 

He flinched.

He seemed to be asking himself that question a lot recently. 

Giving a noise of impatience, he stepped off from the stoop and began to wander around the side of the house. Peeking into windows as he went by, he noticed that normal furnishings lined the interior. 

It was nice.

It was simple and innocent in its makings.

Oh how he envied the house right now. How he wished he wasn't alive, and that he had no painful memories and thoughts to sort through. He wished to just be _simple_. 

Great. 

Now he was comparing himself to a house. 

_You've cracked Goku. Totally cracked. Too much pressure._

That's what he thought to himself as he strode into the backyard. 

It was just what he would have pictured. It fit the rest of the house perfectly. There was a small pond with flowers surrounding it. On the left was a chocolate colored wooden swing with light blue cushions made for two people. He gazed around the rest of the yard quickly, looking for any sign of life. All he spotted were flowers, shrubbery and random pieces of equipment scattered about. Things that had once been whole and complete were now strewn about in parts. __

_Looks like Bulma's been busy._

 How strange this all was. 

He felt like he had entered an enchanted world, where everything was gorgeous and faultless. Another thing he had noticed; it was very quiet. With all the people who were dead in Heaven, you would imagine it teeming with loud, boisterous spirits. It seemed as if this wasn't the case. He was stumped as to how the Gods arranged such a set up. Certainly Heaven wasn't so large that it could accommodate with the number of people it received daily. And not just from Earth mind you! But every planet in the Universe! How was it that Bulma was able to have this piece of land—all by herself and still have room to spare for others!?

Bulma.

Right. He was here to see Bulma. Not to try solve the mysteries of the Unknown. 

Sighing softy; feeling drained of energy; he continued walking. He marched around the house twice, stopped at the front and knocked again. And waited. Then once again took a stroll around the perimeter.  No sign of life anywhere. 

Where could she be? 

He racked his brain for an answer but came up empty handed. 

How many places could a person visit in a place like Heav—

He stopped all movement when he heard a small sound. …Was it? 

For three full minutes he stayed rooted in his place, trying to hear it once more. When four minutes had reached its time he gave up, passing it off as his imagination.

And then he heard it again. And he knew he wasn't imagining it _this_ time. He _knew_ that giggle. 

Rushing forward towards the edge of the pond, he pulled back some tall ferns and paused before an amazing vista. There she was; resting on the soft ground, laughing quietly for no apparent reason. He shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. Shouldn't she be…mourning? 

No, of course she shouldn't. Though she's dead, she awaits the day that she can meet up with her friends and family. She thinks she's left them safe, although heartbroken. She doesn't have anything to grieve about. 

Yet.

He hesitated when he went to take a step forward. His eyes widened when he realized what he was about to do. 

How…how was he supposed to…to…

_Kami_ _give me strength_…_Give me anything to help me make it through this. _

He wanted to sink down onto the soft grass and weep. He wanted to fall into a dimension where these types of things didn't happen. He wished, with all his heart that he didn't have to be the one to do this. He had no idea what he would say. 

The immense amount of guilt and self loathing weighed heavily on his shoulders.

_It's my fault.__Somehow, it's _**all**_ my__ fault. _

He should have done something. Anything. Anything at all. 

He was wrong to let Vegeta walk through the gates of Hell. He was foolish to think that he would ever be able to cope with anything else. He _needed_ Vegeta almost as much as Bulma and Trunks needed him. 

Goku looked up at the sky, watching the perfect clouds pass by in the gentle wind. 

He was the last full blooded Saiya-jin. And that was something that he had never, ever, wanted to be. He knew now, he understood. Vegeta had always been the last of their kind. Goku was either off battling someone or dead. This feeling of loss, this horrible gut wrenching emotion was tearing him apart slowly. 

He knew.

He understood.

What it meant to be the last Saiya-jin.

At last.

_Kami…just give me strength._

He stepped forward through the hedge to face the giggling, cerulean haired female.

It was time to honor his Prince's last request. 

He only wished that the Prince was here to witness it. 

---

"Goku!" 

Bulma had spun around when she had heard a rustle of leaves from behind her. Startled, she had been ready to confront a stranger; however, instead of meeting the eyes of someone hostile, she was met with her best friend's presence. 

She was delighted to see him!

Bounding up from her place by the waters edge, she ran up to her long time companion. Grasping his seemingly lifeless hands in her own dainty ones, she questioned curiously, though not unhappily, "What brings you here Goku? Surely you haven't died again already!" She laughed at her light joke, though her mirth died down when she saw the look on the burly Saiya-jins face. 

Trying to lift the tense mood a bit, she stood up on her tiptoes and gave a slight smile as she patted his head. "Nope, no halo either. Well Goku, I'd say that you are most certainly not dead."

"Bulma."

Her face melted of any jollity and turned somber. Her high arched brows came together to crease in confusion, and her mouth formed a small frown of worry. 

"What's wrong Goku?" she whispered fearfully.

"Everything," was his immediate answer.

She swallowed nervously. "Everythi—Oh Kami. What's happened to Trunks? What's wrong with my baby?" Her eyes formed tears that threatened to fall though she tried to remain strong.

"Nothing, except everything." Goku shook his head in frustration. "If that makes any sense at all."

"Goku. Stop it. Don't you dare talk to me in riddles like that. What has happened on Earth since I've been gone?"

He looked at her sullenly and pushed her gently back towards the small lake. "Sit," he commanded.

Fury danced in her eyes as he avoided her question yet again. "No. Just tell me what's happe—"

"I said sit Bulma."

Her eyes widened at his unwavering yet sorrow filled tone. The look in his dark orbs frightened her. It held so much hurt and uncertainty. There was a haunted look in his eyes that she had never witnessed before. She would have enfolded him in a tight embrace if he hadn't softly, though forcefully pushed her down to sit upon the soft grass.  

He remained standing as he loomed over her, the light from the sun casting shadows on his already grave face. It made him look almost…wicked. She knew that she was being foolish, but she couldn't ignore the voice in the back of her mind that told her something was seriously amiss with the man standing in front of her. 

And whatever it was that caused this change inside of him, must have been horrible.

She tried to run all possible ideas through her head. 

_Trunks is hurt, dead maybe. Vegeta went insane and has killed everyone on the planet. NO. My Vegeta would_ never_ do that anymore. He's changed; he's a better person now. No matter how much it hurt him for me to have left, that just cannot be the case. Kami, what can it be?         _

"Goku."

His head snapped up from where it had been staring at the ripples in the water a small insect had created. A haphazard thought flashed through his mind. _Bugs in Heaven…what the God's can come up with…_ Focusing back to Bulma, he decided that he would not, _he could not_, prolong this any longer.  

"Bulma."

She nodded for him to get on with it. 

He stared at her blankly and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Vegeta's dead."

-TBC

---

Author's Note: Well, well, well. What do we have here? Conflict, that's what!

            Now, I'm terribly sorry for leaving you all hanging for the past few days, weeks, months, whatever. I've actually been ill for the past few weeks. No, I do not mean a cold, but rather I have a condition that mimics heart attacks. So, before going to a doctor and finding out what was wrong, I really thought that my heart was failing me. And, even though I'm only fifteen, it _is_ possible to have a stroke or heart attack, though it _is_ also rare. But not impossible. So, I was quite…petrified for some time. Though, now that I know it's not that [thank Kami], I'm doing much better, though it does still hurt. I think worrying about what it was just made it worse, because I didn't know what was wrong with me. After weeks of waiting for it to go away, I finally told my parents, when before I had been hiding it from them. But I couldn't ignore it anymore because it was getting so bad. It also causes me to shake _a lot._ Some days are so bad, that I can't type properly because my hands are shaking all over the place. It's horrible, but I'm dealing with it and waiting for it to hopefully go away in 6 months or so [the Doctors better be right]. Oh Oh! T'was cool when I went to the Cardiac doctor to check my heart for any malfunctions. They used a sonogram on my heart, and you could see it pumping and everything. Haha. =_=;

            Anyway, I'm already in the middle of the next chapter! I pray that it won't take as long to get this next one out as it did for this one. For your sake and my sake! I'm going to try and finish the next one before school starts to beat down on me with finals and such. Only a few more weeks of school and then vacation! And then my year as a Freshman will finally be over. Such a dreadful loss. [No, not really.]

            Okay, that's enough blabbering from me. I hope you enjoyed the chapter even though nothing really happened in it. But, it was a doozie to write! ^^; Thanks Zerc for Betaing.

            -Geta

**PS: Camaro, is BACK in action. Check out her new fic Monster. ^_^**


	7. Chapter Five

Chapter Five:

A whoosh of air, and Goku was standing in front of his home in the woods. It was deadly silent, early in the morning. A complete contrast from when he had left; storming, fierce. Was it even the same day that he had departed? Time was different in the Afterlife than it was in the Mortal World. But what did it matter? What did it matter what day it was? Or what time it was? It didn't. No, it didn't. Not in the big scheme of things. The hurt was still there.

_"Vegeta's dead."_

Such a simple statement that brought such horror and grief. Filled with mourning and anger. He hadn't even bothered to say it gently. What was wrong with him? _"Vegeta's dead."_ Kami! He felt guilty, he felt confused, felt sad and angered all at the same time. It was wrong, it was all wrong. Bulma and Vegeta dead. One in Heaven, one in Hell. It was all _wrong_. A sudden, all consuming rage filled Goku. It was Yemma's fault. He bluntly refused to give Vegeta a chance—only because he was _Saiya-jin_. Goku snorted. "Yemma seems to forget that I too am a Saiya-jin," he murmured.

_What am I doing here?_ Looking up at his tiny home, he wondered what he was going to do now. Scenes of tears and harsh words of hate filled his mind. _No…__ No, I can't go in there. I can't face Trunks…Chichi…any of them. What would I ever say to them? How can I even begin to make a child who has lost his parents feel any better?_ _Why would Trunks even want my help…it is my fault that Vegeta has gone to Hell._ Inwardly he knew that not to be true. Vegeta had made his choice, and Hell it was. But he blamed himself for it anyway. It just felt so good to put the blame on someone, anybody. And what better person than he?

Kami…Bulma. He pulled a hand over his face in exhaustion and agony. Kami…

He felt so inconsiderate.

"_Vegeta's dead."_

Furthermore, he had been almost lifeless and horribly dreary when he had said it. No comforting from his part. No compassion for either of his life long friends.

"_Vegeta's dead._"

It was such an awful statement. "_Vegeta's dead," _cruelly followed by, "_And he's not coming back." _ What a dreadful way to begin such an imperative and dire conversation. Kami, what had been, what _was,_ wrong with him? He felt so empty. It all seemed so unreal.  

_"What do you mean he's dead? Not coming back?" _Panicked tones.

_"Vegeta's dead Bulma.__ Yemma sent him to Hell. He's not coming back. Ever." _Monotonous comeback.

He wanted to scream his fury and sadness out for world to hear. His hands reached into his hair and grabbed his skull painfully. The pain was almost a comfort to him; made him forget his troubles if only for a moment.

Still clutching his head in frustration and anguish, he backed away from his house. _I can't go in there. I won't. Not yet._

_Forgive me Trunks for being weak. _

_ ---_

_Snap out of it_.

No matter how hard he tried to pull himself up from the muddy forest ground, he just couldn't. He had slumped against a tree hours ago, too weak and weary from his aimless wandering to move anymore. Not knowing where he was, nor caring, he had fell to the ground in depression and had yet to get up. "This is not like me…I feel like a stranger to myself." Picking up a random handful of leaves and twigs, he clenched his fists in the mud. "Never have I felt this helpless, this weak…" It was all too much for him to handle at once. He wanted to break down and cry, yet the tears would not come. His cold and lifeless eyes stared ahead, seeing absolutely nothing at all.

The sun had set minutes ago. Hours? Days? He didn't even know. "What is wrong with me?" he whispered to the inky darkness. Never before had he felt this type of loss. He had never felt this empty. He just wanted to die.

"But why?" The night answered with silence. Goku could understand the fact that he should be sad and upset about the loss of his friends…but this? What was it that was making it so hard for him to concentrate? Why did he feel like something inside of him was…missing?

When Bulma had finally passed away, Goku had been devastated beyond words. He had wanted to crawl into a ball and cry. And he had, for some hours. Nevertheless, he had gradually accepted that Bulma had passed on to the next life. She was in a good place. She knew that. They had all known that she would be in a safe, happy place.  They would all join her one day. Goku had just been relieved that the pain Bulma had been suffering was finally over. He did not think that he could have withstood seeing her in that much agony for too much longer. Bulma's death had been slow…had been expected…they had all tried to prepare for it…and when it finally happened, yes, it had been a shock…yet an expected shock. He shook his head. He was so confused. His emotions were bouncing around inside his head like ping pong balls.

Bulma died. Slow and expected. Vegeta didn't. He died fast, within a heartbeat it seemed.

And it had been entirely unexpected.

Was that why it was so hard for him to accept his death? Goku had always envisioned Vegeta dying in glorious battle like the warrior he was. Not…not like that. Not like this. Every aspect of his death was appalling. The time, the place, the how and the why. According to Saiya-jin lifespan, Vegeta hadn't even been middle-aged. As a matter of a fact, Vegeta had once told him [with a small knowing smirk] that nobody knew how long a Saiya-jin could actually live. Most died long before their prime in battle. Goku had grinned back at him, laughing heartily along with the Prince. 

Goku gave a small smile at the memory before suddenly frowning.

He felt betrayed.

It hit him like a ton of bricks. He felt betrayed. Vegeta wasn't supposed to die yet. Vegeta was supposed to live long and die in battle, just as he was. Vegeta was supposed to be there for him. For Trunks and everyone else even though they would never admit it. Vegeta was…Vegeta. There were no words to begin describing him. Sure, he was cocky and arrogant…but for some reason…he didn't think he could live without him. He was truly the last full-blooded Saiya-jin. And the reason was because his rival, his partner, his best-friend, his Saiya-jin brother betrayed him and left. Left him all alone with everything and everyone to care for and protect. All by himself.

Bulma's death still hurt tremendously…but Vegeta's death…was agonizing. The moment that it had happened, he felt like something had been ripped apart from him. When the faint ki had blinked out of existence, he had cringed and grabbed his head in agony. However, it had been more than feeling the energy signal disappear from the physical plane. It had been so much deeper than that. Something in his head had snapped, almost as if someone had snipped the cord between the two and flung them away from each other into darkness. He had no idea if Vegeta had felt it, but he sure had. Ever since then he felt something missing. During his meeting with Vegeta at Yemma's checkpoint, the pain had dimmed enough for him to think clearly, but now it was back with a vengeance. Something was wrong…a part of him was missing…he knew it. A part of him was—

--dead. Gone. Vegeta had been a part of him. But when had that happened? When had the Prince wormed his way into his mind and forged a link…?

The answer slapped him in the face.

Fusion.

He had fused with Vegeta to fight Buu. That had to be it. The fusion as Vejito had been permanent…or at least it was meant to be permanent. They had, thankfully, separated once Buu ate them…but that didn't mean that they weren't still linked some way or another. Kami, he was so stupid! Why didn't he ever notice it before?

He practically bonded with the man!

When they fused, their minds must have merged also…and never totally separated when their bodies were thrown apart. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ He mentally berated himself over his idiocy. Why did neither of them ever think of the fusion having consequences?!

This was why he felt so empty…this was what it felt like to lose someone who was mentally bonded with you. Granted, Vegeta and he hadn't had a very strong bond if neither of them had been able to detect it…and obviously the bond wasn't as strong as it would be if they were actual _mates_…but he was guessing the concept of the bond was mostly the same.

Except for the whole biting on the neck thing.

And the sex.

_Gah, stop thinking perversely Goku._

Therefore, he and Vegeta had been bonded…somehow. Now Vegeta was dead…and a part of him felt wrong and missing. _Damn you Vegeta.__ Damn you for leaving me all alone with a one-sided bond that neither of us ever wanted. This thing is only supposed to happen between mates…GRR!!!_

He banged his head against the tree behind him causing leaves and twigs to rain down upon him. Why was everything so complicated in his life?

---

_"Vegeta's dead."_

_"Not coming back."_

_"Hell."_

_"Vegeta's dead."_

_"Yemma sent him to Hell."_

The words ran through her mind a mile a minute. Over and over again, the mantra repeated. Over and over and over again. How was this possible? Why was Vegeta dead? No, that was a stupid question to ask. Kami, why had she never foreseen this? She, better than anyone besides Vegeta, knew the consequences of fully bonding with your mate.

She wanted to scream, throw things, smash and damage everything in sight. "Damn you Vegeta!" she shrieked in rage. "Damn you!" She picked up a vase that most likely would have been very expensive in the mortal plane and threw it against the wall, watching it shatter, the pieces coming to land on the floor with a tinkle. She picked up another worthless object. And another and another. Soon the floor and walls were covered in porcelain shards and wood chips. 

Before she could reach for another item, she sank to her knees, weak and drained. "Even when we're dead I'm still cursing him…" she chuckled darkly before letting out a high-pitched snicker of disbelief. After a few seconds, she was braying uncontrollably with tears leaking out of her eyes, arms clutched around her stomach.  Frantic gasps of mirth left her mouth, unable to stop. In the back of her mind she knew that she was cracking, losing it, but she just could not seem to stop chortling on the floor. It was anything but funny. But for some reason that thought made her laugh even harder. "Vegeta's dead!!!" She roared in-between whoops of hilarity. "He's dead! Vegeta's dead!"

She didn't know how long she laughed. Minutes, hours, days. It didn't really matter. Nothing mattered anymore, because—

--"Vegeta's dead…my baby's dead and he's not coming to join me…" As quickly as the laughter had sprung up, it died and was rapidly replaced by heart wrenching sobs of grief and misery. "Dear Kami, Vegeta's in Hell. Kami, Kami, Kami," she curled into a ball on the floor, tears still seeping from her blue orbs. "He chose to go to Hell…he chose it…doesn't want to be with me…Trunks, Kami…doesn't want to be with Trunks or I…Hell…" she knew the words that she muttered were not true, but she couldn't seem to stop. "Wants to be with his brutish people…rule Hell like the King he was supposed to be…" She coiled tighter, clenched her eyes together in heartache.

When Goku had appeared suddenly, she had been overjoyed to see him. She had missed him deeply, so running up to him and giving him a giant bear hug had seemed like the only logical actions. However, when he hadn't returned her embrace, she knew that something was wrong. Goku _always_ returned her warm hugs with a bone-crunching squeeze of his own. She loved that about him. He was always ready to make someone feel better with that grin of his. His very presence just made you feel comforted…she hadn't felt that earlier. Goku had felt…sad. Angry and hurt…empty almost. And his eyes…Kami his eyes had been even worse. She felt like she had been staring into a void of nothingness.

Her motherly instincts had kicked in almost immediately and her first horrific thought was that something had happened to her young son. Goku hadn't done much to reassure her either way, but eventually she calmed down and began to think a bit more rationally. If there was nothing wrong with her son, than it had to be Vegeta. Had Vegeta gone insane and destroyed the world? Was there even an Earth left to call home for her friends? No, no…she mustn't think like that, she had told herself. Vegeta was different now. He would never do that.

Or would he? If he lost her and Trunks? Would he?

The thoughts had flashed through her head so fast she had wanted to clutch her head in agony. It was making her nauseous as she envisioned every different scenario that could have possibly occurred.

_"I said sit Bulma."_ She shivered as she thought back to it. Goku's voice had been so dead and lifeless. And yet…so commanding and dangerous. He had never spoken to her that way before. It had been beyond terrifying.

For awhile, he had seemed lost in his thoughts. Was he trying to think of an easy way to break the news to her? She snorted. "Vegeta's dead," seemed to be anything but comforting. But then again…she had to thank him. Sugar coating the words…she would not have appreciated that. In some ways, Goku tended to be like Vegeta. Blunt and brutally honest when the time called for it.

The reaction to that simple statement had even surprised her. She let herself get caught up in the past for a moment, no matter how much she didn't want to revisit the hurt and pain.

TBC…

---

Authors Note: Next chapter is a flashback of the confrontation that the two had. I already started it, but I'm not making any promises to when it'll be up. I tend to start something and then not finish it until weeks later. I hope that I won't take too long.

Goku may seem a bit OOC, but you have to understand that he's distraught, not to mention the pain of being torn apart from someone you've bonded to, even though it was unintentional. I would just like to inform you that this **will**** not** be a Vegeta/Goku Fan Fiction. The thing about the fusion came to me as I was writing this chapter, and I thought it might make the plot a bit more complicated. Oh the drama and angst!

xD

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Until next time.

-Geta


	8. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six:**

"Dead? Vegeta's—dead?"

Goku looked at Bulma somberly. "Yes. I—I don't know how else to say it."

The shocked woman stumbled backwards. "Why—how did that happen?"

"The bond. Your bond, Bulma."

She couldn't breathe. The bond?

"When you left us—left him—he followed you a few days later. Right after your funeral. We… offered to bring him back to my house, but he refused. He wouldn't move. He didn't stop staring at the…casket, Bulma. I think he had been fighting the entire procession. No—he was fighting since the moment you died. I could see it in his eyes."

Goku reached out to embrace Bulma but she drew away, staring at him with wide eyes. Shell-shocked, he supposed. "Bulma—I'm sorry."

"I—I don't believe you."

Huh? Goku looked confused. "What?"

Her eyes hardened and she backed a full step away from her life long friend. "I don't believe you. He's not dead."

Goku gave her a sympathetic look. "Yes, yes he is Bulma. I know that it's hard to swallow and-"

"Shut up! What do you know!" She was breathing heavy now and her shoulders were shaking fiercely. "Nothing. You don't know anything, Goku. You don't know my husband. He promised me-"

"Bul-"

"STOP IT!" she shrieked. "Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" She pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're lying. You have to be."

"Bulma, why would I lie?" he managed to get out quickly before she could halt him again.

"He promised me. Gave me his word. While I lay sick and dying in bed—he swore that he would be strong. That he would live and raise Trunks. HE GAVE ME HIS WORD, GOKU! Don't you dare—don't you dare—come—here—and—tell—me—otherwise. HE NEVER BREAKS A PROMISE. NOT TO ME!"

When he made out to grab her again in an embrace she smacked his arms away. "Get away from me," she hissed.

Goku frowned. "Stop this Bulma. Be reasonable."

"Be reasonable! How _dare_ you!" She felt dizzy. "How can you say that! How! You come here, telling me that my mate has left our son all alone after he promised me not to—and you expect me to 'be reasonable'! Get away from me, Goku!" She whirled around and started to stalk off.

Before she could get very far, a hand grabbed her arm and whirled her into a large chest. "Let me go, you asshole! Let me go, let me go, let me GO!"

Goku held her as she furiously scratched and hit his chest, screaming her fury. Her doubts. Her pain. "I HATE YOU!" He wanted to hold onto her forever and share her pain. He wanted to take it away. For years she had been his best friend—he couldn't stand seeing her so distraught. "LET ME GO! I HATE YOU!" He knew she didn't mean it. But he held her as she pummeled his chest with her tiny fists; he couldn't feel it.

By this time, she was gasping for breath, tears falling freely from tightly squeezed lids. "Dammit, let me go! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you-"

"Bul-"

"I HATE YOU, VEGETA!"

* * *

Soon her fierce tirade of curses and swears transformed into heaving sobs and cries. "I don't believe you…I don't…I don't believe you…" She was half-heartedly pushing against his chest. "Let me go…stop it, Goku."

Goku gently released her, but held onto her sides to hold her steady on her wavering feet. "You do believe me, Bulma. Or else your reaction wouldn't be so emotional. Please…please calm down. I hate to see you like this." He crouched down with her as she sunk to the ground, her shoulders shaking. He was silent as he let her grieve. She spoke after several minutes.

"Why—why did he go to Hell? He's not evil. Not anymore." She looked up at him through wet lashes, hiccupping and sniffling. She looked so lost.

Goku sighed. "I tried Bulma…but King Yemma wouldn't allow it."

Scowling, she questioned, "King Yemma? The fat ogre at the desk—"

"Yes.

Bulma shook her head. "I just don't understand. Vegeta isn't like that anymore. He hasn't been for years!"

"I know…I know, Bulma."

The tears that she had desperately tried to stop came forward once more. "I—I…Vegeta's really in Hell? I mean…that…I won't ever see him—ever again?" She shook her head back and forth in disbelief. "That's not how it was supposed to be, Goku!" She wanted to tear her hair out. She wanted to scream.

Goku just sat there. He didn't know what to do. What to say.

She slammed her fist against the ground and looked up at him with a fierce glare. "So that's it then! We die and we can't be together? Is that how it's going to end? After everything we've been through! This is where it leads to!"

"I'm…I'm afraid so, Bulma. There's nothing we can do. I'm so sorry." He looked down at his hands. He felt like such a moron. Someone so inconsiderate. Everyone came to him because he always knew what to do. The one time that Bulma truly needed someone—he couldn't do jack. This was beyond his power and influence.

The distress was clear upon her face. "No," she whispered. "I refuse to believe that. It can't be over. It won't ever be over. I love him, god dammit—no one's going to take him away from me, Goku. No one."

They were both silent for a long time. Neither of them knew what to say. Neither had much reason to say anything even if they wanted to. A few times Bulma would break into bouts of crying and Goku would collect her in his arms to comfort her. Still, neither said anything.

Eventually, Bulma told Goku to go home. He had been away from his family for far too long. Moreover, she just wanted to be left alone for the time being. Goku had understood and bid her goodbye with a tight hug and kiss on the forehead. He told her everything would be all right. She didn't answer, only nodded to show that she had heard him. Then Goku was gone and she was left all alone next to her small, heavenly cottage with its bright green grass and vibrant flowers.

Hours could have gone by—she didn't know—before she knew what she was going to do. And God help anyone who stood in her way.

TBC.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Welpz…sorry for being so late. I'm getting a friend to update the next few chapters for me, seeing as I have been lacking lately. That's right folks. No internet connection for almost three months. Having a lot of trouble fixing it. Sorry for delays. Anyway, next chapter is complete and it is a long sonovabitch. Will be out shortly.

Thanks for reading!

:D


	9. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven: **

"You again? I already gave you clearance to Heaven."

"There is a pressing matter that I must speak with you about, King Yemma." Her voice was full of confidence and false civility.

The giant ogre leaned over his desk to get a better look at the tiny earthling. "Hmm? A pressing matter you say?" He snickered. "Maybe some other time. I have some 'pressing matters' to attend to at the moment also." He pointed behind her. "See that long line? Yeah, well—that line never gets any shorter—so I think it best if you run along and let me do my job." Without giving her a second glance, he sat back into his massive chair. "Next!"

Bulma's eyes darkened in malice, yet she acted as if she had not heard him dismiss her. "Please, King Yemma. It's about my husband."

With a heavy and exaggerated sigh, he leaned forward once more to peer down at her. "Still here, are you? Look—I really don't have the time for this now."

"Will you ever have the time for it?" she hissed.

He was silent at her biting tone.

"Yes, that's what I thought. Now you listen to me, and you listen good, you horrible bastard—"

King Yemma roared. "How dare you!" His booming voice startled Bulma for a moment, but she only stared back at him in defiance. "You dare come here and insult the great King Yemma? Where are you brains, you foolish girl?"

"I'm not leaving until you do what I want."

A howl of laughter followed her statement. "Not leaving until I do what you want? Are you mad?" He continued to snicker some more. "Alright, alright. Let me get this straight—you came here to demand something from _me?_ I think not. Now," he motioned over to one of his minions, "I suggest that you leave my sight this instance. Otherwise, I will be forced to remove you against your will, and that may not be a pretty sight. Now go—I've already given you clearance to Heav—"

"I'm not leaving, dammit!" She stepped forward to avoid the guards coming from behind her. "You sent my husband to Hell! I demand that you let him into Heaven!"

"Let him into Heaven! Some fiend that I sent to Hell? I think not! Besides—you should have known better. After all; what's a cute thing like you doing running around with a man evil enough to be sent to Hell? Guards! Get her out of my sight." And with a grunt, he went back to his paperwork. "NEXT!"

"NO!" smacking clutching hands away from her, she yelled up towards the top of the desk. "He wasn't evil anymore! He hasn't been for years! You're just a spiteful old bastard and sent him there because he's a Saiya-jin!"

That got King Yemma's attention. Slowly, he stood up and stared down at Bulma. "A Saiya-jin, you say? There's only one Saiya-jin that I've seen recently other than Goku and that's that wretched Prince." He scowled and narrowed his eyes. "He deserves to be in Hell—my decision shall not be altered."

Bulma wasn't giving up. "You say that just because he's a Saiya-jin that he's automatically evil! That's not true! Goku's a Saiya-jin and he's nothing like your misconceived image of a Saiya-jin."

"Goku's a special case—along with the rest of his family. Vegeta was evil. He is evil. His record says it all."

"You're not listening to me! For years, he has lived on Earth—he's raised a child with me! He saved the planet from Buu if you don't remember!"

"A few good deeds is not enough to redeem him! The book is unbalanced—his evil past far outweighs the few years he spent on Earth. And even those were not entirely clean—you do remember when he killed all those people in the stands, I'm sure." He crosses his arms and growled. "Face it, Vegeta's evil. And he's staying in Hell. I'm sorry if that pains you—but that's the way it is."

The utter confidence that she would be able to change his mind was failing her. Things were not going the way she had planned. "King Yemma—if only you would look at his record—he's a changed man! Must you punish him for sins that he is sorry he has committed? Isn't the point of life to make mistakes, realize you've made them, and then become a better person? I can't think of anyone more deserving to go to Heaven then Vegeta. Please. Don't keep him away from me."

King Yemma snarled and snatched up a folder from the tall pile. It was Vegeta's. "You want me to look at his record, eh? There's no need—I already know what it contains. You want to know a little something about your precious Vegeta?" He sat down, clasped his hands in front of him and looked her in the eye. "In the past century—Frieza and Vegeta have sent more people to their death than any other villain. Do you still want me to look at his record? Still want to know how many innocent people he's murdered in cold blood? Well then, let's see!" Angrily, he tore the folder open and began reading down the line. "Planet Jugt—4 billion. Planet Retri—82 million. Planet Farlen—3 billion. Planet Vebra—67 thousand—"

"Stop it," she whispered. "Please, stop it."

He gave her nothing more than a glance. "Planet Iged—53.4 million. Eh…pretty large populations, wouldn't you say?" He continued. "Planet Marths—210 million—wow, Marths used to be one of the most advanced races in the solar system. It's sickening just how damn good he was at his job, isn't it? Planet Yiter—3.6 billion—hmm…similar population to Earth, wouldn't you say?" He glared down at the shaking female. "There isn't really any need to continue, is there? After all, there are pages and pages of the same statistics—it would definitely take us a few days to go through them all."

She didn't know what to say to Yemma. She knew her mate—but how was she to make this stubborn, racist bastard see it?

"Vegeta did what he did to survive, nothing more."

"Is that what he told you?"

She gasped and looked up at him. "What the Hell is that supposed to mean?"

He sneered down at her. "Vegeta was selfish."

"He only did what he did to avenge his people!"

"And he failed to do that in the end didn't he? He wasn't the one to kill Frieza, was he?"

Bulma looked at him warily. "What are you trying to say?"

King Yemma gave an eerie smile. "Vegeta killed so many people—too many to fathom—to reach a goal that he failed to attain. In the end his hands were drenched in blood. He knew that it would have taken years to become stronger than Frieza. He knew what it entailed. He should have died instead of killing billions of people for his one selfish reason." Yemma stopped to laugh. "You see, that's what I love about you mortals. You think everything is about you—everything revolves around you. You're all so entirely egocentric and vain. If one bad thing happens to you, you expect the world to fall at your feet."

"That's not—"

He stopped her mid sentence. "Let's take you for an example. Do you think that you are the only soul here in Heaven who has their lover stuck in Hell? Do you realize how many good people fall for the bad ones and then get separated once they die?"

She tried to open her mouth to defend herself.

"Oh oh! Here it comes! The whole 'but this is different from all those other times, King Yemma,' speech. 'Vegeta and I truly love one another and you cannot separate us like this.' You see what I mean? Selfish. All of you. Don't give a damn about anybody but yourselves."

"Please…King Yemma. I'm begging you! I'm not saying that we're better than anybody else, and that we deserve this more than anybody else. I'm just…I…" she shook her head to stop the tears. "I _love_ him with everything I have to give. Without him I'm lost. When I died…I was comforted with the thought that I would see him eventually. And then Goku suddenly appears for what I thought was a friendly visit—and I learn this? That my mate, the man that my entire life revolved around has died because of me?"

Yemma's face did not change from its fierce facade.

"Do you know what a bond is, King Yemma? It's something that exists in the Saiya-jin culture where two mates are connected so deeply that if one dies, the other follows. That's why Vegeta died—because I died and he couldn't live with a broken bond. How can you tell me that one who feels that deeply is truly evil? That he deserves to go to Hell?"

"The record. Everything is determined by the record. It matters not my personal opinion. Nor yours."

"Screw the damn RECORD!" she shrieked, losing her temper. "How can a piece of fucking paper determine something so important! It's just a bunch of bullshit!"

He scowled. "There you go again being selfish. Everything you do or say is self-centered. What about the other souls that I have turned away from my desk when they come to me with the same god forsaken dilemma? You think it proper and morally right for me to say 'okay' for you, but 'go away' for others? That's your mortal brain—never thinking of anyone other than yourself."

Her anger seemed to evaporate and was replaced with desperation. "King Yemma…please. What can I say or do to make you change your mind?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Her face fell. She knew the look on his face to be one she would never be able to waver. "It's not fair…"

"Nothing is fair in life, my dear."

"But this is HEAVEN! Isn't this supposed to be a release from the troubles of life? It should be fair!"

"And would it be fair to all the people that Vegeta murdered, to let him into Heaven?"

She was silent.

"No, it wouldn't be."

"He's changed for the better. I—damn. I don't think I can survive without him, King Yemma. And what about our son? We have a little boy together! What is he going to think when he finally dies and comes here? Where will his Father be?"

"In Hell, that's where he'll be. And your son wouldn't be the first nor the last to suffer in that way. And neither will you be."

"I was pregnant you know."

"Excuse me?"

"Before I died…I was pregnant. It was going to be a little girl. Vegeta was so excited, I could tell. And then we lost it because of the cancer." She was speaking softly now, almost to the point that Yemma couldn't hear. "My entire family fell a part in such a short amount of time." She offered a strained smile. "I didn't think it would end this way. Trunks is all alone now…Vegeta is in Hell. Our daughter is dead. I'm dead."

Yemma's eyes softened. "I am sorry for your loss, but there's nothing I can do. You can argue with me all day long, but I won't change my mind. Ever."

She took a deep breath to clear her head and wiped away her tears. "You know why I'm different than everyone?"

His ears perked up at the quiet statement. "Sorry?"

"You're right. I am selfish." She looked up at him, her eyes burning with determination. "But I'm different from everybody else—because I don't see them standing here at the moment."

Yemma was confused. "Excuse me?"

Bulma smiled, her expression calm and collected. "If they really, truly, loved someone then they wouldn't have left without getting him or her back." She grinned. "I'm sorry to say it King Yemma. But you aren't getting rid of me until I'm holding Vegeta in my arms. I _will_ sit here, for the rest of eternity if that's what it takes, until you change your mind."

King Yemma's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You made a mistake sending him to Hell, my Lord, because now you have Bulma Briefs to deal with. And deal with me you will."

TBC

**Author's Note:** Whew. Finally. My fricken God—this chapter was probably the hardest chapter that I've had to write so far. I just spent the entire day—listening to the most depressing and heartfelt songs that I could find—just to get into the mood to write this chapter.

Next chapter: We ill finally get a chance to see what's been happening to Vegeta while all this drama has been happening up above! Stay tuned! Drop a review if you have the time! Thank you kindly!


	10. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight:**

"Hey, you. Punk."

Vegeta stopped in his mindless wandering and looked over his shoulder. Two of the guards of Hell were standing there, hands on their hips, sneers on their faces. "What do you want, you blasted creatures?" snarled the irate prince.

"You look familiar. Have we met ya before, eh?"

With a scowl, Vegeta replied, "I've been dead before, yes. Now go away."

"Wait! Wait a second!" One of them—the red one—stepped forward. "Aren't ya that prince we hear them all talkin' bout sometimes?"

Vegeta sneered. "I wouldn't know, since I haven't been here to hear them talking."

"Blimey! Ya right, brother! Vegeta! One of them fierce and nasty Saiya-jins ain't ya? Ain't that your name, pal?" the other ogre asked, enthusiastic.

Vegeta didn't answer them as he walked away. First lesson that Frieza had ever beaten into his skull: Kill idiots that get on your nerve. Seeing as how he didn't wish to kill anyone—he thought it best to walk away before they really irked him.

"Hey! Hey! Where ya going!"

"I don't think he's in the talking mood, buddy."

"Yeah! But…come on! He's a Prince!" The red ogre turned to face his partner. "Isn't that way cool?"

"Ah, come on…s'no big deal…we've met Princes before…"

"No, no! Come on! Why aren't you excited! I mean…come on!"

Vegeta shook his head as he left them to bicker amongst themselves. Like he cared. He just wanted to be left alone.

He wasn't sure how long he had been wandering. Days…weeks. Time didn't really have any meaning when you were dead. He hadn't slept or eaten since he arrived. While dead, neither of them were a necessity, but you could still feel hunger and fatigue. Once he got far away from those dunderheads, he supposed he would sit down for a break.

When he arrived in Hell, his first and immediate thought was to find another Saiya-jin. To find his parents. To find anyone he knew. But he had no idea where they could possibly be. And he wasn't about to ask anybody if they'd seen a Saiya-jin lately.

But after wandering for days he realized he didn't really want to meet up with anybody he knew. What was the point? Did he expect to turn up at wherever his Father was staying and act like everything was normal? Act as if he hadn't spent over twenty years in the service of Frieza, act like he had killed Frieza? No…no. That wasn't going to happen and he knew it. Everyone in Hell must already know that he failed his people. Frieza would have been sure to blab and rave constantly about that _damn Goku_. Frieza was the whiny type, after all.

He had been fooling himself for so long. He thought he could just waltz up to the Saiya-jins and act like he belonged with them. Maybe a few years ago, he could have.

Would have.

But he was a changed man now and ruling his people was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment.

Trapped.

That's how he felt. To be stuck down in Hell was like being in Frieza's army all over again. He could hear people wailing and sobbing all around him. The sounds of anguish and pain trilled in his ears, waking unpleasant memories of the past. Memories that he would rather forget.

He hadn't felt this miserable in years. All he needed was to see Frieza in the flesh and the entire picture would be complete.

By God…he had tried denying it at first—but now he didn't care.

He was dead.

He was in Hell.

Who was there to stop him from feeling what he wanted to feel?

He missed her.

Missed waking up beside her and seeing her mussed hair, her sleepy smile, her morning kiss on the forehead while he was still half asleep. The way she would stretch out on top of him, wrap her arms around his neck and rub her cold little nose against his neck to wake him up. Her nose was always cold in the morning. He didn't know why. He missed the way they would lay there together awake, often falling back to sleep. God, he would do anything right now to feel her arms around him again.

He stopped his walking when he neared a grouping of rocks in the middle of the barren wasteland. It felt good to sit down and lose himself in memories.

He shook his head and chuckled.

He missed the way that Trunks would sneak into their room in the mornings and leap onto the bed. Sometimes he would be loud and crazy; jumping up and down on the mattress until they woke. Other times he would crawl over their legs and hips, shaking him awake. Never Bulma. Always him. Trunks was fearful that he would hurt his Mother if he got too excited.

Vegeta cracked a smile.

Trunks was definitely a morning person, while he was not.

He didn't do it too often anymore, since he had gotten older, but Trunks would crawl under their sleeping arms, wriggling his way in-between them, ignoring Vegeta's sleepy growl.

Bulma's Mother took a picture once. Sneaky wench. He missed her and her insane husband too.

Bulma still had the photograph. Before she died that is.

She looked at it a lot during happy or depressing times. Vegeta had never really understood the sentimental value it had held for her.

Even though they were all sleeping, it was her favorite picture of them. As a Family. Vegeta usually had replied with a snort. She just smiled back at him.

He would do anything to see that photo again.

He would do anything to have her smile at him again.

He sighed in misery, stood up and started walking.

So disconnected was he, that he did not feel himself being watched by two different sets of eyes.

He probably would not have cared even if he had noticed.

TBC.

**Author's Note: **Short chapter, I know. Only about half the size of what I usually dish out. Don't worry. A few more chapters, and we'll be focusing on Vegeta almost completely for some time. I've gotten some emails regarding Trunks and what is happening with him. Honestly, we won't be seeing much of Trunks, seeing as how this story isn't about him. But I'll definitely do one or two chapters that kind of tie up that loose end. Goku will make his reappearance…eventually. He is important in the later chapters. Thanks for reading! Review if you feel inclined to do so!


	11. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine:**

"So…King Yemma…have any kids?"

An exasperated groan filled the air. "Honestly, must you be so annoying?"

Bulma blinked up at him with innocent blue eyes. "Whatever do you mean, King Yemma?"

"THAT! Right there for example. _Must_ you say 'King Yemma' in every sentence you use? You've been doing it for days. Weeks. However long you've been here pestering me. Years. Who knows!"

Bulma screwed her face up in mock confusion. "But I thought that was your name, King Ye-"

"YES! It's my bloody name, don't wear it out!"

"Ohhh…alright. Got ya, King Yemma."

"ARGH!"

"Oh alright…what about…King Yemmy?"

"NO!"

"King Yemmer?"

"No."

"Yemmy-the-_man_?"

"No."

"Let's play the name game, King Yemma!"

"Oh dear God…"

"Yemma, Yemma, Bo-Bemma, Fi-Fye-Mo-Memma…YYYYYEMMA!

"STOP THAT! THIS INSTANT!"

"You're a bore. Did you know that?"

He waited…

"…King Yemma."

"ARGH! MORTALS!"

* * *

She never realized how _tedious_ it was to sort through spirits. 

Especially the good ones. Had she been that insanely boring? No…she couldn't have been! She hung out with the cool people who saved the world half a dozen times. There. Her mind was satisfied.

Now, the _evil_ ones sure were interesting.

More than once she had whistled in disbelief as Yemma read out the list of evil deeds before sentencing them to Hell. She had learned to tame her reactions though. The looks Yemma sent her were getting _excessively_ freaky. She giggled. The first time she had done it …woah. Watch out. Giant, red demon on the loose! Of course, she had done it again not five minutes later—just to get the response out of him again.

She felt like a kid again. She would sit, perched on the edge of his desk, looking down at all the souls passing through. More than once an arrogant little bastard would wolf whistle at her.

Silly spirits.

Didn't they realize that a paper clip or eraser falling from so far above might hurt? Who said being dead was the end of pain? She snickered at the memories. And even though Yemma had reprimanded her for it afterwards…she hadn't missed the quirk of the lips as it happened.

Who knew how long she had been here. Like Yemma had said earlier that day (Or was it the same day? She had no sense of time anymore), she could have been here three weeks or three years.

When she had initially approached Yemma that day and told him that he was stuck with her, he had blinked a few times in incredulity. That was before the near hysterical bout of laughter erupted. She had grown so angry at his mocking. Did he think she was joking? She had been beyond furious as she could do nothing but stand there and be belittled by the hulking mass. Finally, he had calmed down enough to order the guards to take her away back to where she "belonged".

She had fought them. By God, she fought them. Scratches and teeth marks marred their flesh. However, they had been persistent in their work and managed to drag her back to her happy little cottage with its bright green grass and vibrant flowers. She had been disgusted by the pure bliss it tried to convey. They left her there with a warning.

As if she had listened. She was back at King Yemma's desk less than a day later. Again, she had been dragged back against her will. Three more times it had happened before King Yemma realized she was completely serious in her mission and stopped ordering the guards to bring her back. After all, this was Heaven. There was no jail to place an unruly spirit inside. She would just keep returning.

So there she was. Perched on his desk for however long it had been. Her first goal was to annoy him to no end. Maybe then, he would allow Vegeta into Heaven, just to get rid of her. However, she had learned from her stay that King Yemma was a very, _very_ stubborn man.

After realizing that her ingenious plan wasn't going to turn out the way she wanted it to, Bulma settled for something else.

Pretend to _like_ him. Get friendly with him. And then, when the moment was right, strike!

Of course, she was still thinking exactly what she meant to do when said "striking" part came about.

But she didn't worry about that yet.

She was still quiet busy attempting to woo Yemma to her side of the tracks.

Wow, she definitely needed to get out of this atmosphere. She just used the words "woo," and "side of tracks" together in a sentence.

She had to act fast. Her mentality was at stake. Oh, and Vegeta. But she couldn't help him if she wasn't in the right state of mind, now could she? Exactly, because then she would—stop it. Now her mind was rambling off.

* * *

"You never did answer my question, King Yemma." 

He barely spared her a glance as he ticked off things on his report. It was his five-minute break of the day. Go him. "And which question would that be? The one about what brand of toothpaste I use? Or if I think the world would be a better place if those kids would just give the Rabbit his Trix back?" He snorted. "Whatever that means."

Bulma looked amused. "Honestly. I still can't believe you don't know about the Rabbit. I mean…he's like…an icon on Earth. There's even a theme song. A jingle on the commercial." She paused and looked up at the ceiling, as if looking for an answer from God. This was quite silly, seeing as how God could actually be living across the street. Maybe she should look right, instead of up. Well, if they had streets in Heaven. Or whatever. "I think there is anyway."

"Yes, well…I don't get out much these days." He snickered. "Oh, look. I made a joke."

"Yeah, a pretty pathetic one." Bulma laughed. "King Yemma, if you have to_ say_ that it was a joke—then it really wasn't all that hilarious. But anyway!" she made a motion with her hands as if to discard the previous conversation. "I _meant_ when I asked if you had any kids."

He snickered, but didn't answer. Just kept writing.

"King Yemma! I'm serious. Any little tots running around the house?"

"Do you see any?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you're sitting in my house. Do you see any "little tots" running about?"

"Well…no." She bit her fingernail, thinking. "Are they all grown up?"

Sighing, he put his pen down and crossed his arms over his massive chest. "Look, you're talking about something that doesn't exist." He frowned. "So, in answer to your question, NO, I do not have any children."

"I see."

"Good. Now…bug off. I'm trying to finish this report before I have to continue with sentencing."

"Yeah. Okay."

Silence.

"Got a wife?"

"SHH!"

TBC.

* * *

**Author's Note:** A light and airy chapter. I seem to be throwing these out more often than I like…this isn't supposed to be a fluffy story! Ah well…I will just have to turn it around somewhere in the near future. BE PREPARED!

Welpz, now we know what Bulma's master plan is. Will she be able to carry it out? **Operation:** Be Nice To King Yemma And Then Strike!", or BNTKYATS for shortcontinues when we come back!

Wow, I get cornier every post.

Woe is me.

I want to re-write the opening dialogue for this chapter some day. I wasn't exactly happy with it, and even my Beta claimed it was a rocky start. ; But I'll just post this for now so I don't get mauled by angry fans. Also, I'm also sick and tired of the title of this fanfic. When I created it in the last ice age, it was on the spur of the moment and I never gave it really any serious thought. That was before I realized people would like it so much. Now, every time I look at it, I see how long and cliché it is. Does anyone have any ideas they want to throw out for a new title? I'll consider all of them! Thank you kindly!

Thanks for all your wonderful reviews, my darlings!


	12. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten:

Bulma watched with wary eyes as a raging beast of a man struggled on the floor. It was taking six guards to hold him down; one at each leg, arm and his broad shoulders. Glancing at Yemma, she wondered what he was going to do.

When the man (well, if you could call him a man) before her had attempted to leap onto the giant desk, she had shrieked, falling backwards. King Yemma had roared in fury, grabbed the demon-like being and hurtled him back to the ground where the ogre guards had leaped on top of the snarling mass.

She had seen her fair share of evildoers since she had been here. She watched them yell, curse, stomp their feet, and make empty threats with such anger and malice in their voices. She had felt sorry for them. Oh, so very sorry. Maybe she shouldn't have, but she did.

Yemma had told her not to be. They had made their choices in life. They were evil because they chose to be.

Sneering, she had argued with him. Standing, she told him that nobody chose to be evil. Nobody had been born evil. She refused to believe that. Everyone had their share of problems in life, some more than others. Events changed people, sometimes for the better. Sometimes for the worse.

Yemma had paused, stared at her in silence. For several minutes they were locked eye to eye.

He blinked first.

Then said quietly, "He's evil. Face it."

She hadn't spoken to him for the next three days.

Vegeta wasn't evil.

That was at least two weeks ago. Or whatever. She was getting tired of asking herself if it was really two weeks or twenty weeks.

But she hadn't seen someone act so violently as the one she was currently watching.

Spit was flying out of his mouth as he screamed obscenities at the top of his lungs. She watched with fear. Yemma was towering over his desk, his face bloated and purple in his rage. She tuned out what he was shouting at the furious soul. She didn't want to hear anymore; it was just so sad.

Inch by inch he was being dragged towards a dark archway. It was the entrance to Hell, said Yemma. There were no gates blocking it like Heaven had. When she asked why, Yemma had let out a great laugh. "Foolish mortal," he had said, "Why have gates? No one would willingly run into Hell." It was true. She had not seen a single soul breaking into a sprint, eager to arrive in Hell.

Most were dragged such as the man in front of her was. He was fighting with every bit of energy he had left. As they got closer and closer to the ominous entrance the being roared and doubled his efforts, determined not to enter Hell.

More guards came.

And soon he was gone.

Shoved through, just like that.

And the guards stood there, breathing heavily, wiping sweat from their brows.

Bulma looked away.

"He was Kreltin."

She looked at the still fuming Yemma; he was attempting to smooth out his suit and calm himself down. Barking out an order to get back to work, he collapsed back into his massive chair. He was taking a ten-minute break, starting now. "He was Kreltin," he repeated. "From planet Karash. Nasty little buggers, they are."

"Yeah," she replied lamely. "They are."

Yemma continued. "Downright evil, I tell you. Abusive as Hell too…Karash is in the middle of a civil war. Started a few days ago. I suppose we'll be seeing a lot more of them pretty soon." He was oblivious to Bulma's less than enthusiastic mood. "A few passed by already. You were taking one of your beauty naps, or whatever you call them. Yeah, so they passed through a couple of times—mostly women though. Karash is a female dominated Planet. Interesting, eh? Bet you'd like it. Get to boss everyone around as much as ya like…"

"Yeah…uh-huh…" She wasn't listening to a word he said. She didn't really care. Vegeta was down there. It seemed to hit her like a ton of bricks. Before today, she didn't _really_ believe that _Vegeta was in Hell._ Tears welled up in her eyes. Vegeta is in that dark and horrible place.

Yemma noticed her distraction. "What's wrong with you?"

Wiping her tears away hurriedly, she turned to face him. "Nothing. Nothings wrong."

Giving her a look, Yemma rummaged in his desk for his lunch.

Bulma let out a breath, staring at the gate to Hell.

"Nothings wrong. Everything is fine."

And she made her decision.

---

"Was that really him?"

"I don't know. Looked like it, didn't it?"

"It _had_ to be him. It HAD to be."

"So you think he's dead? Finally?"

"He must be. Why else would he have been here!"

"Hm."

"What's with you? Isn't this exciting?"

"I'd say, no, not really."

"Oh, get over it. Stop being such a pansy."

"Watch it, brat."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

"Why should I be excited? Give me a good reason."

"He's our friend!"

"Speak for yourself."

"Did you know that you can be really stubborn sometimes? Hm? Yeah, well, you are. Just for your information."

"Did you know that you can be really annoying and immature sometimes? Yeah, well, you are."

"…"

"That's what I thought."

"I hate you. A lot."

"Mmhmm."

"No, really. I do—hey! Where are you going!"

"To go inform the King."

"Right. Well, you go do that. I'm going after him."

"Don't go alone."

"Awww, is Nappa worried about me? That's so sweet."

"Radditz…"

"Fine. Then come with me. We can inform the King after we've spoken to him."

Nappa sighed. "Why are you so eager to see him?"

"I just said. He's our friend. At least, he's _my_ friend. We were together for how many years in Frieza's army?" Radditz crossed his arms and stared at the older man.

"Incase you've forgotten, he killed me. And he completely forgot about you. Went off to that damned planet to find those stupid balls, not to wish to you back to life, but for immortality. Can you honestly forgive that so easily?"

Radditz frowned. "Nappa. It's been years. I'm over it. We've talked about this before. Of course I was angry. Angry and pissed off as all Hell when I found out he had betrayed me. But really. It's Vegeta. He was only ever looking out for himself. And you know what? Good on him. If immortality was going to help him keep that promise--"

"That promise was stupid."

"Not to him it wasn't," Radditz said. "It meant everything to him, and you know it. It's the only thing that kept him going all those years, I think."

"It destroyed him," spat Nappa. "He turned into a complete and raving lunatic because he held onto that promise. It ate away at everything he was and left nothing but a dark and evil _thing_."

Radditz snarled and took a step forward. "You weren't even there, Nappa. You were passed out on the floor, practically dead. You didn't see what I saw. The things that Frieza said—what he did to her—you've _no idea_. No idea, you fucking idiot. If the promise that he made to her is what kept him living for so long, than that's all right. I'll forgive him for anything he's ever done because he was practically my brother and I love him."

"He hated us, Radditz!" said Nappa furiously. "He treated us like scum in those last years!"

"We were close once, Nappa. And you know it. You remember how it once was. And don't blame it on him. It was Frieza's fault for how our lives turned out. He made us who we were."

Nappa shook his head, glaring. "We made our own choices, brat."

"But we were influenced by others, Nappa. I've forgiven you for past grievances. And you've reconciled with me. I think it's time that you put aside these feelings and forgive him too."

Nappa was silent for a moment. "It will not be so easy for me. I've held onto these hostile feelings for too long. But—I will try. Maybe."

Radditz brightened as his mood changed drastically. "Great! C'mon, let's go catch him and you two can get all cozy and apologize like the great big nellies you are!" He grabbed Nappa's arm before he could protest, and began to drag him through the sand.

"I really hate you," growled Nappa.

"Nah, you love me."

---

King Yemma really hated souls. He wasn't quite sure if that was proper, seeing as how that was his job, but ya know, really, give a man a break. He huffed as he slumped back into his chair. A rather difficult spirit had just passed by and he could feel a migraine approaching.

Yawning, Yemma glanced down at the right corner of his desk. Instead of seeing the customary blue hair of the human girl, he saw emptiness. He gave a sigh of relief. It seemed like she was in one of her moods again. Ever since that Kreltin creature had passed through days ago, she had taken to slipping off at random intervals. At first, Yemma had been suspicious. He wondered if she would have been stupid enough to sneak through the Gate of Hell. But when he sent an ogre to track her down, she was found at her little cottage doing nothing of importance. At that news he had smiled. She must've finally seen the uselessness of her sitting on his desk, day after day.

Much to his grievance, she had reappeared a few hours later, chipper and more annoying than ever. But the disappearances continued. Yemma wasn't complaining. The more she was away, the easier his life was.

He did wonder what she was doing at her cottage. And why she continued to come back. She was a very, very strange mortal, he decided mentally.

As he leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes, he failed to spot a tiny speck of blue darting behind his desk and slipping into the darkness.

---


End file.
